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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 4 page essay that discusses how Charles Dickens, in his novel Hard Times, specifically attacks the philosophy of utilitarianism, which is a nineteenth century system of morality. The writer argues that he particularly focuses on the negative effects of utilitarian philosophy in regards to the family and the education of children through his description of the Gradgrind family and the upbringing of Louisa and Tom. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khdiutgr.rtf
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later refined by John Stuart Mill. This philosophy proposes evaluating the ethics of human behavior by examining its effects (Honderich 85). As this suggests, the principal concept behind utilitarianism is
that the morality of an act should be judged by its consequences, namely whether or not the act increases the happiness of the individual and society as a whole. In
other words, what is "good" are acts that bring pleasure or happiness, increasing the common good. In Hard Times, Dickens objects to
all aspects of this social philosophy, showing how its effects in every aspects of society culminate in disaster. He particularly focuses on the negative effects of utilitarian philosophy in regards
to the family and the education of children through his description of the Gradgrind family and the upbringing of Louisa and Tom. The novel opens with Mr. Gradgrind, who is
the epitome of a Utilitarian, showing off the local school for a visiting school inspector. Gradgrind is the father of Tom and Louisa, who will both play instrumental roles
in the narrative, and at the school, he meets Sissy, whose father works at the "Horseriding," a sort of circus. Gradgrind s philosophy of life soon becomes clear as
he is absolute appalled that Sissy does not know the scientific definition for "horse," and that his own children have been tempted to sneak peaks at the circus. Gradgrind believes
only in facts and figures and scientific pursuits and not in "fanciful" things like the circus. In other words, he believes in things that have "utility."
When Gradgrind reprimands Louisa and Tom for trying to see the circus, Dickens writes that there was "an air of jaded sullenness in them both, and
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