The pursuit of happiness has a venerable tradition in British political economy. Jeremy Bentham, the late 18th century founder of utilitarianism, defined it thus: “By the principle of utility is meant that principle which approves or disapproves of every action whatsoever, according to the tendency which it appears to have to augment or diminish the party whose interest is in question?.?.?.?if that party be the community in general, then the happiness of the community; if a particular individual then the happiness of that individual?.?.?.?The interest of the community then, is what? – the sum of the interest of the several members who compose it.”
追求幸福是英國政治經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)中一個(gè)傳統(tǒng)。18世紀(jì)功利主義創(chuàng)始人杰里米?邊沁(Jeremy Bentham)是對功利主義（utilitarianism，又稱效用主義）這么下定義的：“所謂效用的原則，是指按照會促進(jìn)或妨礙利益相關(guān)者的幸福——如果是一個(gè)群體，就是指這個(gè)群體的幸福；如果是某個(gè)具體的人，就是指這個(gè)人的幸?！膬A向，來贊成或反對任何一項(xiàng)行動……那么，群體的利益是什么？就是構(gòu)成群體的各個(gè)成員的利益的總和?！?/p>