ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that the influence of utilitarianism or indeed of any philosophy on the Welfare State is to be too certain of the boundaries of the subjects. It is too inclined to treat the Welfare State as if it was a theoretical definition of a particular set of policies. Utilitarianism, which is primarily a theory of morals, was under Bentham's influence applied to political systems. The origins of Utilitarianism can be found in Hobbes, and Hume, but Bentham gave it an additional credibility and produced a more coherent system. The brief overview of Benthamite Utilitarianism shows that a number of comparisons, albeit superficial, can be made between Utilitarianism and the Welfare State. The demand for rights is not likely to be transitory for it is based on an intense reaction against some of the assumptions built into the Welfare State itself: that rights are coterminous with welfare, and that welfare itself has no limits placed upon it.
