The rationale for this position stems from utilitarianism, a philosophical doctrine
which holds that the promotion of welfare, or 'utility', is the basis of moral decisions. The
utility of a whole society consists of the sum of the utilities of its members. Bentham
argued that social welfare should be seen as 'the greatest happiness of the greatest
number'. This formula is superficially appealing, but it is not without its problems. Consider
the effect of three programmes on the distribution of resources - or, for the sake of
argument, 'units of happiness' - between three people, Tom, Dick and Harry.