Principle of Greatest Happiness

Abstract

Happiness research has become a hot topic in social sciences in Western countries in particular in economics recently. Nevertheless there is a considerable scientific pessimism over whether it is even possible to affect sustainable increases in happiness. In this paper we argue that the principle of greatest happiness can and must serve, as fundamental law of human behavior in social sciences, especially that in economics. We outline a new approach to economic theory, where the governing law of human actions is based on the Greatest Happiness Principle (GHP).