John Stewart Mills Utilitarianism

2. Explanation: Mills innovates by prioritizing and connecting pleasure with happiness. Pleasure itself is a virtue. Utilitarianism acknowledges individual actions that benefit the greatest number. It affirms majority happiness and individual general happiness. In simple terms it affirms all actions need to be guided towards attaining happiness. As a result this keys this utilitarianism valid,because happiness is universally sought. 3.Quote: Robert. H.Hoag explains in Happiness and Freedom: Recent Work on John Stuart Mill “ Thus, on Mill's view, pleasures, virtue, money, fame, in- individuality, and power can be desired or desirable both as ends and as means to happiness, both as parts of and in relation to happiness.”(Pg. 6) 4. Analysis: “ Utilitarianism can be simply seen as maximizing happiness for the greatest number while mitigating pain. While valid, it affirms human desire. It shows that it's ok for people to desire grandoise. For anything is accessible to one's life. Thus utilitarianism remains valid because it promotes all human pursuits. As long as it's in relation to one's happyiness and generates minimal suffering. In effect your own happyiness should promote the happiness of others. Thus this will mill's theory valid. 5. Transition:() Utilitarianism is especially useful because it gives a clearly defined goal, maximize the good and minimize the

Mankind must by this time have acquired positive beliefs as to the effects of some actions on their happiness; and the beliefs which have thus come down are the rules of morality for the multitude, and for the philosopher until he has succeeded in finding better. That philosophers might easily do this, even now, on many subjects; that the received code of ethics is by no means of divine right; and that mankind have still much to learn as to the effects of actions on general happiness, I admit or rather earnestly maintain.

In chapters two and three of Mill’s Utilitarianism writings he chose to discuss Utilitarianism’s meaning and principles of Utility. As for the definitions of utilitarianism, Mill described it as, “The Greatest Happiness Principle” (Mill 10). Furthermore, utilitarianism seeks to promote the most happiness for the greater good (Mill 10). In accordance to that, actions are considered good actions if they promote happiness (Mill 10). As Mill describes the definition of Utilitarianism, he also discusses the definition of happiness. Mill describes happiness as, “Intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure” (Mill 10). In other words, Mill believes that if someone is performing an

John Stuart Mill wrote on his moral theory of Utilitarianism, which many have refuted by explaining that it failed to respect the dignity and worth of human beings. Mills theory of utility bases an actions morality on its ability to create the maximum amount of happiness. Happiness as described by Mill, is the maximization of pleasure over grief. Some critics have even said that Mill’s theory degraded humans to swine as it belittled morals to come from pleasures of the body that even animals had. Mill defended his theory by stating that human happiness is much more complex than that of swine. I do not believe that Mill’s defense was particularly convincing, and many facets of his theory continue to degrade the dignity, values, and worth of humans.

John Stuart Mill begins the explanation of his version of Utilitarianism by replying to common misconceptions that people hold regarding the theory, and as a result describes his own theory more clearly. The main issue that Mill raises is that people misinterpret the word “utility” as in opposition to “pleasure”. However, utility is actually defined as pleasure itself and also the absence of pain.

Mill writes of utilitarianism in the eponymous work Utilitarianism. According to his work utilitarianism is a means of deciding the moral value of actions. Mill’s theory takes a consequentialist view of actions, saying that the moral worth of an action is decided by the outcome, or consequence. This decision of moral worth is determined by whether the outcome maximizes happiness and minimizes the reverse of happiness. Mill writes that “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.” Happiness is defined as pleasure and the absence of pain according to Mill, and the action must be considered for the outcome it brings to the most people. This happiness, or pleasure and lack of pain,

J.S. Mill’s Principle of utility, also known as the greatest happiness principle, is an ethical philosophy that looks at the development of morals and how people choose to follow these morals. The basis of Utilitarianism is the idea that our morals are designed to create the most amount of happiness while minimizing the amount of pain felt. Mill’s utilitarianism looks at everyone’s happiness as equal, with individual actions concerning the feelings of everyone equally. Utilitarianism argues that decisions are made based on whether that decision will create happiness for the most while minimizing pain for the least amount of people, looking at the opportunity costs of various decisions and using this to lead to the best course of action. From this Mill suggests the idea of the first principle of morality.

For utilitarian philosophers, happiness is the supreme value of life. John Stuart Mill defines Utilitarianism as a theory based on the principle that “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain and privation of pleasure” (Mill, Utilitarianism). This meaning that utilitarianism is determined by the calculation of happiness, in which actions are deemed to be good if they tend to produce pleasure, a form of happiness. On the contrary, they are evil if they tend to promote pain. Not only does Mill regard to the end product of happiness in actions, but also considers the motives of such actions. In his argument, Mill defends the idea that happiness as the underlying basis of morality, and that people desire nothing but happiness.

In the second chapter of “Utilitarianism”, John Stuart Mill argues against the misconceptions held by detractors of utilitarianism through definition. Mill defines utilitarianism through the concept of the Greatest Happiness Principle, in which the outcome which will serve the happiness and utility of the most people, thus creating the greatest overall happiness, remains the optimal choice; through this definition, Mill rejects the misapprehension that utilitarianism opposes pleasure, showing the true intent in utilitarian philosophy lying within pleasure itself, as the Greatest Happiness Principle advocates a universal pleasure in lieu of pleasure for only one’s self. Morality within utilitarianism, according to Mill, sees the concept of

In the first chapter, Mill remarks on society's need for a simple defined foundation for our morals which should be based on personal experiences. He

John Stuart Mill establishes a foundation of utilitarianism to justify our actions regarding morality. Our actions; good or bad, tend to promote human happiness or unhappiness. When referring to good actions, for example, they tend to be rewarded with pleasures. When one does a good deed that person feels positive about themselves and therefore they are experiencing pleasure.

The main concept behind John Stuart Mill’s essay Utilitarianism (1861) is to support and strengthen views proposed by Jeremy Bentham in An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789). The backbone of both of these essays is the view that “actions are right in proportion to their tendency to promote happiness and wrong in proportion to their tendency to promote the reverse of happiness” (Mill, 1861). Moreover, something is considered morally “right” if it brings greater pleasure than suffrage, and this is essentially the idea of “utility” which utilitarianism promotes. At it’s surface, this idea originally may sound alluring and like a good way of life, but when looked at closely, it is evident that there is a logical error.

Reading Reflection #2: John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism In John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism, he implements consequential ethics. Mill's utilitarianism conjoins three claims: 1, the morally right action is the one that maximizes aggregate good, 2, what is good is the happiness of individual humans (and other sentient creatures), and 3, happiness consists in pleasure and the absence of pain (Mill). Mill also explains the General Happiness Principle, in which (1) actions are ‘right’ in proportion to how much happiness/pleasure produced, and actions are ‘wrong’ proportion to how much pain/unhappiness produced, and (2) we must give equal weight to happiness of all persons affected by the action (Mill). The role of Greatest Happiness Principle

John Stuart Mill has a simple view of ethics, which is the greatest happiness principle. It determines whether something is ethical based on pain and pleasure. Utilitarianism is a subset of consequentialism, where we judge the outcome of an act. Based on the greatest happiness Principle, actions that are moral if they can promote pleasure and lack pain, whereas immoral actions are actions that cause pain. Mill, mentions that our goal is to pursue pleasure and freedom. What he mentioned is in fact true in reality, but it blinded by flawed logic. If you seek pleasure in life, you would have to sacrifice something of equivalent value in return; it could be time, it could be effort, it could be even people. This leads to pain and suffering although

In this paper I will present and critically assess the concept of the principle of utility as given by John Stuart Mill. In the essay “What Utilitarianism Is” #, Mill presents the theory of Utilitarianism, which he summarizes in his “utility” or “greatest happiness principle” # (Mill 89). Mill’s focus is based on an action’s resulting “happiness,” # pleasure and absences of pain, or “unhappiness,” # discomfort and the nonexistence of contentment, rather than the intentions involved (Mill 89). After evaluating Mill’s principle, I will then end this essay by discussing my personal opinion about the doctrine and how I believe it can be altered to better suit real-life situations.