The notion that states should seek to increase the happiness of their citizens dates back to before the British philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) told us that: “The necessity of pursuing happiness [is] the foundation of liberty. As therefore the highest perfection of intellectual nature lies in a careful and constant pursuit of true and solid happiness … [it] is the necessary foundation of our liberty” (“An Essay Concerning Human Understanding”).
The early utilitarians Jeremy Bentham (1748 – 1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806 -1873) believed that generally mankind seeks to avoid pain and maximise pleasure and introduced the “greatest happiness principle”, which claims that “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness,
