Utilitarianism, by John Stuart Mill Essay

Utilitarianism defined, is the contention that a man should judge everything based on the ability to promote the greatest individual happiness. In other words Utilitarianism states that good is what brings the most happiness to the most people. John Stuart Mill based his utilitarian principle on the decisions that we make. He says the decisions should always benefit the most people as much as possible no matter what the consequences might be. Mill says that we should weigh the outcomes and make our decisions based on the outcome that benefits the majority of the people. This leads to him stating that pleasure is the only desirable consequence of our decision or actions. Mill believes that human

According to Mill, pleasure should depend on quantity and not quality. For instance, the people who had any feeling of moral obligation are the most desirable pleasure, because those people do not think pleasure as right or wrong (38). “It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied” What Mill is trying to say in this assertion is that human beings should not sacrifice their pleasure for others. Also, Mill states that men lose their aspiration when they are too focused on inferior pleasure. If a human does not have no pleasure or feel no pain, then he would not know how to love or desire virtue. When there is pleasure, there will be painful as

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Utilitarianism is defined as a doctrine in which the greatest happiness of the greatest number should be the guiding principle of conduct. John Stuart Mill theorized that that happiness and pleasure are multi-dimensional ways of feeling thus there are different qualities associated with happiness. In this respect, Mill hypothesized that higher and lower pleasures exist within the human experience. Higher pleasures nourish the intellect they consist of reading, dissecting philosophy, or listening to classical music. Lower pleasures nurse our physical desires such as sex and eating.

Simply put, John Stuart Mill believed that the end of all action is happiness and, in turn, objectivism about intrinsic value as justifiable by argument. “The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness” (Ch. II, paragraph 2). Mill describes utility as the foundation of morals based on the promotion of happiness. He argues that some kinds of pleasures are deemed more desirable and more valuable than other pleasures. It is implausible, he maintains, to hold that “the estimation of pleasures should be supposed to depend on quantity alone” (Ch. II, Paragraph 4). According to Mill, he describes the intellectual pleasures, as opposed to sensory pleasures

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,

In his essay, Utilitarianism Mill elaborates on Utilitarianism as a moral theory and responds to misconceptions about it. Utilitarianism, in Mill’s words, is the view that »actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.«1 In that way, Utilitarianism offers an answer to the fundamental question Ethics is concerned about: ‘How should one live?’ or ‘What is the good or right way to live?’.

So many different philosophies that could be confusing without needed explanation. One of these is Mill’s utilitarianism. John Stuart Mill’s can be confused with other forms of utilitarianism without one distinct difference. Mil’s utilitarianism is like other forms of it’s kind, with the difference in what humans should find pleasure in. Utilitarianism is based on the notion of taking out what makes a human unhappy and replacing it with what makes someone happy. Mil’s utilitarianism is based on this idea but with is more concern with the ‘quality’ of the where humans get pleasure from. This is supported like so: “This establishes the moral worth of promoting higher (largely intellectual) pleasures among sentient beings even when their momentary intensity may be less than that of alternative lower (largely bodily) pleasures” ”(Kemerling, Garth).Mil supports the notion that humans should strive for greater forms of self-satisfaction, like increasing the intelligent.should be put above all other pleasures.

John Stuart Mill argues in Utilitarianism that higher pleasures are unique to human beings. Higher pleasures are those pleasures that require some minimum of cognitive capacities to enjoy. More specifically, higher pleasures are intellectual pleasures while lower pleasures are sensual pleasures. Mill argues that animals are not capable of experiencing higher pleasures because animals are not aware of their higher facilities; animals lack the conscious ability to be curious, to achieve a sense of self-worth from volunteering, or to hold a deep and intellectual conversation. Mill successfully argues in Utilitarianism that higher pleasures are not only distinct and unique to human beings,

In Utilitarianism, Mill addresses many objections to his general moral theory of promoting happiness and decreasing pain. Through Mill's rebuttals to the objections, his ideas about well-being become clear. Although his moral theory is important to understand the basis upon which his ideas about well-being sit, they miust stand alone so that one can determine to which theory of well-being Mill adhered. Mill's ideas about well-being spring from his explanation of the difference between contentment and true happiness. Leading up to his ultimate discussion of the distinction, Mill attempts to clear up misunderstandings about what pleasure and happiness are. The swine objection involves misunderstandings about pleasure and the difference between animals and humans, and Mill addresses it in clearing up the misunderstandings. The objection claims that

In Chapter 2 of Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill, talks about the “Greatest Happiness Principle”. He describes actions as explanation of happiness. Actions that are right will generally promote happiness whereas actions that are wrong will generally bring about the opposite feeling. He then goes on to explain that happiness is defined as without pain and with pleasure, and unhappiness is with pain and without pleasure. Stuart goes on to explain that the greatest happiness principle is the goal.

The utilitarianism ethical theory, according to John Stuart Mill, states that “happiness is desirable, and the only thing desirable, as an end; all other things being desirable as a means to that end” (Mill 35). Although this ethical theory seems logical on its surface, a closer examination of its key components paints a different picture. Because of its flawed definition of “happiness” and mischaracterization of human nature, one should be discouraged from using the utilitarian ethical theory to make moral decisions. The first significant flaw in the utilitarianism ethical theory is the way in which human “happiness” is defined. When defining the meaning of happiness, Mill suggests “that each person’s happiness is a good to that person, and the general happiness, therefore, a good to the aggregate of

One of the most important ethical claims to me in the Mill reading was in Utilitarianism. The part about the greatest happiness principle is something that as I get older I have realized that this is the most important part of life. The greatest happiness principle is something that all humans should strive for otherwise what are they living for? I believe you only have one life so why would you not want it to be as pleasurable as possible. My own views about the greatest happiness principle are similar to Mill’s views. Why would anyone want to do something if in the end it does not make them happy? Having said that, I understand that it is not always possible to choose an action that makes everyone in the world happy and that sometimes you

In the essay “Utilitarianism” by John Stuart Mill, he explains his support for utilitarianism and argues any misconceptions of it. In his essay he talks about the difference between higher and lower pleasures and what significance they have in his utilitarian moral theory. His theory is based on the rule that “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.” Many people experience different kinds of pleasure and he talks about how they can differ in quality and quantity.

In “Utilitarianism,” John Stuart Mill responds to several objections to the utilitarian view, but what exactly is the utilitarianism view. Utilitarianism is the view that an action is good to the extent that it produces the greatest possible overall happiness or utility. According to Mill, utility is the pleasure itself and the absence of pain. What this means is that pleasure and the absence of pain are the only things desirable as end in themselves. It's the only things that is inherently good. A good example of utilitarianism would have to be about the Trolley Problem or to me gay rights. With gay rights, legalizing gay marriage would cause the greatest amount of happiness. Therefore, any circumstance, event, or experiences is desirable only if it for pleasure.

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.