What is Utilitarianism (according to Bentham)?

Created by Jeremy Bentham, it is a hedonistic (or in simpler words, pleasure driven) normative theory. We are basic animals driven by seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. Therefore, an action is morally good if it increased pleasure, and morally bad if it increases pain. It's worth noting that for Bentham, Happiness and Pleasure are the same. To work this out, Bentham created a calculus. It's a complicated formula, but the main things to note are that it takes into account the duration, certainty and intensity of pleasure that a certain act can give you. It also takes into account the number of people the act will effect. If many people gain pleasure from an action that action is more "good". However, it could occur that whereas with on action, 6 people could gain a low form of pleasure, if with another one individual could have a very high pleasure, the individual should do the latter action.