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    JS Mill, Utilitarianism

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    Manjare Hassin Raad
    Mill defines utilitarianism as the theory that actions are morally right if they promote happiness and wrong if they produce unhappiness. He argues that higher intellectual and moral pleasures should be valued more than basic physical pleasures. Mill also believes that achieving virtuous goals contributes to one's happiness. He claims utilitarianism aligns with humans' natural social tendencies, so a utilitarian society would feel morally binding. However, critics argue utilitarianism fails to adequately protect individual rights, cannot measure all things by the same standard of happiness, and oversimplifies the complex nature of happiness.

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    JS Mill, Utilitarianism

    Uploaded by

    Manjare Hassin Raad
    514 views2 pages
    Mill defines utilitarianism as the theory that actions are morally right if they promote happiness and wrong if they produce unhappiness. He argues that higher intellectual and moral pleasures should be valued more than basic physical pleasures. Mill also believes that achieving virtuous goals contributes to one's happiness. He claims utilitarianism aligns with humans' natural social tendencies, so a utilitarian society would feel morally binding. However, critics argue utilitarianism fails to adequately protect individual rights, cannot measure all things by the same standard of happiness, and oversimplifies the complex nature of happiness.

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    Mill defines utilitarianism as the theory that actions are morally right if they promote happiness and wrong if they produce unhappiness. He argues that higher intellectual and moral pleasures should be valued more than basic physical pleasures. Mill also believes that achieving virtuous goals contributes to one's happiness. He claims utilitarianism aligns with humans' natural social tendencies, so a utilitarian society would feel morally binding. However, critics argue utilitarianism fails to adequately protect individual rights, cannot measure all things by the same standard of happiness, and oversimplifies the complex nature of happiness.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    514 views2 pages

    JS Mill, Utilitarianism

    Uploaded by

    Manjare Hassin Raad
    Mill defines utilitarianism as the theory that actions are morally right if they promote happiness and wrong if they produce unhappiness. He argues that higher intellectual and moral pleasures should be valued more than basic physical pleasures. Mill also believes that achieving virtuous goals contributes to one's happiness. He claims utilitarianism aligns with humans' natural social tendencies, so a utilitarian society would feel morally binding. However, critics argue utilitarianism fails to adequately protect individual rights, cannot measure all things by the same standard of happiness, and oversimplifies the complex nature of happiness.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Utilitarianism: JS Mill

    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." Mill defines happiness as pleasure and the absence of pain. He argues that
    pleasure can differ in quality and quantity, and that pleasures that are rooted in one's
    higher faculties should be weighted more heavily than baser pleasures. Furthermore, Mill
    argues that people's achievement of goals and ends, such as virtuous living, should be
    counted as part of their happiness.

    Mill argues that utilitarianism coincides with "natural" sentiments that originate from
    humans' social nature. Therefore, if society were to embrace utilitarianism as an ethic,
    people would naturally internalize these standards as morally binding. Mill argues that
    happiness is the sole basis of morality, and that people never desire anything but
    happiness. He supports this claim by showing that all the other objects of people's desire
    are either means to happiness, or included in the definition of happiness. Mill explains at
    length that the sentiment of justice is actually based on utility, and that rights exist only
    because they are necessary for human happiness.

    The theory of utilitarianism has been criticized for many reasons. Critics hold that it does
    not provide adequate protection for individual rights, that not everything can be measured
    by the same standard, and that happiness is more complex than reflected by the theory.
    Mill's essay represents his attempt to respond to these criticisms, and thereby to provide a
    more complex and nuanced moral theory.

    Mill's argument comprises five chapters. His first chapter serves as an introduction to the
    essay. In his second chapter, Mill discusses the definition of utilitarianism, and presents
    some misconceptions about the theory. The third chapter is a discussion about the
    ultimate sanctions (or rewards) that utilitarianism can offer. The fourth chapter discusses
    methods of proving the validity of utilitarianism. In his fifth chapter, Mill writes about
    the connection between justice and utility, and argues that happiness is the foundation of
    justice.

    Strengths of Utilitarianism:

    1. Convincing assumptions: preference for


    pleasure and happiness.
    2. Explains morality as a social extension
    of natural inclinations.
    3. Transforms difficult moral deliberations
    into manageable empirical considerations.
    4. Advances flexibility over dogmatic
    persistence on principles. The stress is on
    the practices conducive to happiness not
    on natural rights or norms.
    Weaknesses:
    1. The concept of happiness is not
    clear. Very vague: equated either with
    pleasures or with the public good.
    2. Measurements and the units of
    happiness are arbitrary and subjective.
    3. Disregard for motives and
    intrinsic values could lead to immoral
    and unjust consequences.
    4. The social (altruistic) component
    could be too demanding if pursued
    strictly.

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