Abstract

This text traces the story of the development of utilitarian political economy. It discusses thinkers such as Bentham, James and John Mill, Jevons, Sidgwick and Edgeworth who all saw themselves as members of a distinct school of economists who took themselves as members of a distinct school of economists who took the pursuit of happiness as a guiding principle for the behaviour of individuals and governments. The greatest of general happiness became the ultimate test for all public policy and economic issues.