Final answer:
Jeremy Bentham created the Hedonic Calculus as a method for evaluating the moral value of actions based on their consequences and the resulting pleasure or pain they caused. The Hedonic Calculus used various factors to measure the intensity, duration, and other aspects of pleasure and pain.
Step-by-step explanation:
Jeremy Bentham, a utilitarian philosopher, created the Hedonic Calculus to measure the pleasure and pain resulting from different actions. The Hedonic Calculus was a quantitative method used to evaluate the moral rightness or wrongness of an action based on its consequences. Bentham believed that the moral value of an action could be determined by calculating the overall happiness or well-being it produced.
The Hedonic Calculus consisted of several factors that needed to be considered: intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity, fecundity, purity, and extent. These factors helped to assess the amount of pleasure or pain caused by an action and to compare different actions in terms of their moral value. By using the Hedonic Calculus, Bentham aimed to provide a systematic and objective approach to ethics.