With Hard Times (1854) - a critique of the political theory of utilitarianism which holds that the proper course of action is the one that seeks the greatest good for the greatest number of people - Dickens set himself against thinkers like Jeremy Bentham, Thomas Malthus and Adam Smith and their influence on government policy.

BBC: Charles Dickens

He promoted the idea that the rightness or wrongness of an action depended on its consequences, an ethical theory known as utilitarianism.

ECONOMIST: John Harsanyi