2013 is the 150th anniversary of the publication of the book Utilitarianism, by the British philosopher John Stuart Mill...This week: what sado-masochists are getting up to at Harvard. Utilitarianism is a broad church which admits parishioners of varying persuasions and degrees of fervour. But there are two pillars to which all subscribe, one for society and the other for individuals. The first is the famous maxim, “the greatest good for the greatest number”. John Stuart Mill modified this primitive calculus of pleasure and pain to take into account the pleasures of the intellect. In his well-known words, "it is better...