==================== HES POSTING ==================== According to the Oxford English Dictionary and several dictionaries of philosophy, the term "utility" was first used in the context of philosophical ethics by David Hume in 1751 (Inquiry concerning the Principles of Morals -- chapter 5 "Why Utility Pleases"), who made it the basic criterion of ethical value. The term was in frequent use in English from 1540 onward, although it appears from my perusal of the OED that the first uses of the term related to philosophy and economics date from the late-1600s to mid-1700s. Hedonistic theories of morality go back to the Greeks -- Aristippus of Cyrene and Epicurus -- but these tended to be egoistical rather than universal, and it is not until the 1600s that we begin to see attempts to reconcile the two. Precursors of a universalistic conception of utility: Richard Cumberland (1631-1718) made "the greatest good of the universe of rational beings" the chief ethical criterion. At about the same time, William Wollaston (1659-1724) spoke of a "moral arithmetic" of pleasure and pain which rational being used to make ethical decisions. Both Cumberland and Wollaston were English. Frances Hutcheson, Adam Smith's teacher, introduced the phrase "greatest happiness for the greatest number" as the test of a right action. John Gay also employed Hutcheson's principle, deriving it from the will of God. William Paley (at about the same time as Bentham) created a theological utilitarianism which incorporated theological sanctions. I expect the gendered aspect of the term "utility" and "utilitarianism" emerges from the the link that Cumberland expresses most clearly between utility and rational beings. The Western philosophical tradition never considered women rational beings, and hence they could not be expected to engage in the "moral arithmetic" of utility maximization. But I do not know of any feminist philosophical work on this. Ross B. Emmett Manager, Electronic Information, History of Economics Society Augustana University College e-mail: [log in to unmask] URL: http://www.augustana.ab.ca/~emmer ============ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ============ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]