That was in fact the original idea, though generally pitched as equating utility preferences between social classes -- the utility of a nobel and commoner were considered equivalent, a radical idea at the time.
Clearly there are difficulties with the notion, and direct comparisons between. individuals' peferences or utility functions are at best difficult if not impossible to measure. But the matter of unequal treatment by social class was the specific error Bentham was attempting to correct.
This aspect of Bentham's philosophy is specifically mentioned in Nigel Warburton's A Little History of Philosophy (2011), chapter 21.
Clearly there are difficulties with the notion, and direct comparisons between. individuals' peferences or utility functions are at best difficult if not impossible to measure. But the matter of unequal treatment by social class was the specific error Bentham was attempting to correct.
This aspect of Bentham's philosophy is specifically mentioned in Nigel Warburton's A Little History of Philosophy (2011), chapter 21.
https://www.worldcat.org/title/little-history-of-philosophy/...