John Stuart Mill was one of the most influential philosophers in Britain during the nineteenth century. John Stuart Mill, along with Jeremy Bentham, helped fully develop the idea of Utilitarianism, which was first advocated by Francis Hutcheson and William Paley back from the eighteenth century. The idea of utilitarianism is simple: taking the best action that maximizes the amount of good or happiness for the most amount of people. Mill and Bentham’s version of utilitarianism were similar to one another; the major difference was that Mill’s version of utilitarianism emphasized on the quality of pleasure that a human experiences, rather than just feeling good in general. People often interpret Mill’s Utilitarianism differently. Philosophers …show more content…
Mill acknowledges that there are certain pleasures that are more craved for than others. He says “It is quite compatible with the principle of utility to recognize the fact that some kinds of pleasure are more desirable than others. It would be absurd that while, in estimating all other things, quality is considered as well as quantity…” This tells us that the quantity of pleasure is not the only part that makes us happy, but the quality of it also. Mill also distinguishes the differences between animals and humans, saying that humans require a higher quality of pleasure than animals to feel satisfied, but at the risk of suffering more pain: “A being of higher faculties require more to make him happy, is capable probably of more acute suffering…” Mill’s Utilitarian standard of what action is right is not the happiness of the person itself, but the happiness of others; therefore, people also have to be impartial to their self-interests in order to think about the greater good for other people. He says “As between his own happiness and that of others, utilitarianism requires him to be as strictly impartial as a disinterested and benevolent spectator.” There can be many different interpretations of Mill’s “Utilitarianism” depending on who is reading the