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John Stuart Mill Utilitarianism

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In ethics, a popular notion of what is able to provide the most good in regards to decision making without having to overthink problems is the theory of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism’s assertion is to conduct the action which maximizes the well being of sentient beings. Delving into this deeper, philosopher John Stuart Mill advocated utilitarianism as a means that which could provide the greatest possibility of happiness arising in situational circumstances put forth. Philosopher Bernard Williams would argue with this notion as utilitarianism does seem pleasing to solve ethical situations, however, does prove to have complications within the theory. Utilitarianism coaxes an agent to decide for the greatest happiness for all affected as the …show more content…

To clarify his point further, actions are to be considered just or morally correct if the purposes of the action evoke happiness either to one or many persons as it is intrinsically good without question. The same is for the contrary such as if actions evoke unhappiness to one or many persons, then they are to be considered morally wrong or unjust. Examining deeper into the facets of happiness and unhappiness, happiness would invoke something such as pleasure, which would give to higher pleasures and considered intrinsically good whereas unhappiness would promote …show more content…

This is a rebuttal to the idea of seeking pleasure in order to be considered ethically right as it argues that this seems somewhat selfish. Mill, however, argues that in receiving two kinds of pleasure, physical representing lower pleasures and intellectual representing higher pleasures, the intellectual pleasure is what separates us from swine or other non-human animals as these pleasures are concretely human-oriented actions and feelings and are thus, more desirable by us. In Chapter IV: Of What Sort of Proof the Principle of Utility is Susceptible, Mill’s central argument is, “the sole evidence it is possible to produce that anything is desirable is that people do desire it” (326). Mill refers to the greatest-happiness principle which states that our actions and goals are based on our desires. Mill believes that happiness is a universal trait predicated on desires and because of this, our desires enable us eventual

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In Defense of Utilitarianism, J.S. Mill In the excerpt from John Stuart Mill’s book, Utilitarianism, Mill defends the utilitarian theory against three different objections. The first, and strongest opposition to utilitarianism was the accusation that the emphasis on the pursuit of pleasure makes utilitarianism “a doctrine worthy of swine.” This was my favorite argument because Mill defended it so well stating that there are varying degrees of pleasure. He refers to them as “high” and “low” pleasures, which I do agree with.

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John Stuart Mill, one of the most influential philosopher of the nineteenth century, created a principle that states “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness”. This is known as the Greatest Happiness Principle which focuses on what a man ought to do to promote happiness and prevention of unhappiness. When it comes to consequences in utilitarianism, this is what categorizes an action under “right” or “wrong”. Mill’s definition of happiness is based on the amount of pain and pleasure present in the consequence of the action. Happiness is the intended pleasure and absence of pain whereas unhappiness is pain and the deprivation of

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Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that focuses on outcomes and consequences. When one considers the theory of utilitarianism, it must be understood that the pleasure is a fundamental moral good and the aim is to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. So, when a human is going through the decision making process it is of the utmost importance to look forward at the consequences of the decision and determine if the decision will maximize pleasure and minimize pain. John Stuart Mill, a nineteenth century philosopher focused on the theory of utilitarianism or the Greatest Happiness Principle and claimed that the maximization of happiness for the greatest quantity of people is the ultimate goal. One issue that we face in modern day America that

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This discovery explains that “nothing in your own life plans or aspirations and accomplishments will alter a built in, hardwired capacity for contentment,” (Kingwell). Genetics determines a person’s ability to obtain certain levels of happiness despite their search for happiness. Although genetics are a limiting factor towards one’s contentment, even the geneticists do not have a definition of happiness. In the conclusion, Kingwell asserts that philosophical thinkers have some truth in their thinking that questioning the definition will lead to unhappiness and he also believes that the geneticists are only looking at the facts instead of introspectively “raising the deeper question of what they, or we, mean by happiness,” (Kingwell).

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M. Hare’s argument, it can be seen that there exists some issues with utilitarianism. Or, simply apply utilitarianism to this world, and use utilitarianism code to make every decision is wrong since the code of utilitarianism loss consistency in real world. According to utilitarianism, the best moral action is the one that maximizes utility, or happiness. However, happiness is complex. It is generally acknowledged that people who have their physical and emotional needs satisfied and their human rights guaranteed are happy.

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One being that if every person in the community gave up their happiness for the common good, then the common good’s happiness would not be there, because the community as a whole is not happy because they are giving that up for the general happiness. Secondly, I believe it would make sense that if the individuals of a community are happy, then the general mood of the community would be happiness. A supporter of Mill’s idea of utilitarianism might say that Mill describes pleasure with what makes us happy and that it is easy to sacrifice that for the common good. He supports

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As a line of moral reasoning, utilitarianism appears in many instances to enter questionable territory with regard to its imperatives about acts that a deontologist might designate as inherently immoral. While it is worth noting that in many cases this theory works well, the fact that the cardinal, ideological pillar behind it, The Greatest Happiness Principle, allows for the commission of seemingly immoral acts in certain cases, raises immediate and pressing objections among many people. These morally controversial decisions can range in severity from taking away a child’s ice cream cone to the murderous quandary that was introduced in Williams’ paper; utilitarianism states that if there are benefits at stake, these situations are one and the same: no matter how drastic the measure, the action that results in the most happiness for the most people is the morally right one. This line of thought brings about the concept of a negative duty that results from the fulfillment of some positive duties in such situations; for example, if one were to

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According to Vaughn (2017), “the principle of utility says that we should produce the most favorable balance of good over bad (or benefit over harm) for all concerned” (p.11). Utility is the underlying principle of utilitarianism, curated by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill in the 18th and 19th centuries. Bentham defines utility in terms of the quantity of pleasure versus pain produced, whereas Mill believes that pleasure is more qualitative, suggesting that it ranges on a scale of pleasure. Under Bentham’s definition, an ethical action is one that increases the overall happiness of the whole community.

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According to Bentham, the Nature has placed mankind under the governance of pleasure and pain. They point out what we ought to do and determine what we shall do. One hand there is the standard of right and wrong and on the other hand lies the chain of causes and effects. This is called the Principle of Utility(PoU). The more consistently the PoU is pursued, the better it is for the mankind.

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There were two prominent ideas from the Sandel text that applied to the ethical issue I chose to examine. John Stuart Mill had two theories about Utilitarianism and the valuing of life in regards to harm and autonomy. Secondly, was Kant’s determination of the moral valuing of life. Mill, a Utilitarian, discussed the notion of justice and that all people are cognoscente beings and, as such, are entitled to self-defense. Mill’s assertions are important because he determines that everyone has a right to act of their own volition, provided that they do not harm others.

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John Stuart Mill’s argument on the government’s role is an anti-perfectionist and utilitarian approach. Utilitarianism is basing an action on what would maximize the most happiness among people. This theory is composed of two components the account of utility which is what is intrinsically good and the Principle of Utility that determines what actions are right based on their outcome. Mill’s take on utilitarianism is that there are different levels of pleasures, where intellectual enjoyment is a higher ranking on pleasure. Moreover, Mill claims that to achieve the greatest happiness of a group of people is for the government to be an impartial judge.

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More specifically, Aristotle suggests that continence is the respect of self-imposed rules, while temperance in about enduring those self-imposed rules (p.34). Once he has established the qualities related to pleasure, Aristotle goes on to investigate the role of pleasure in ethics. At this point, Aristotle considers that pleasure has a powerful influence over humankind and their actions. He demonstrates this by noting the use of pleasure and pain in the instruction of children and the shaping of character (p.36). In addition, Aristotle evaluates the opinions of two different schools in order to establish the role of pleasure.

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In this essay, I will explain the moral theory utilitarianism and outline its main claim; then I will present the most serious objection to utilitarianism: that it does not value justice; next, I will present utilitarianism’s refutation to the critique; lastly, I will evaluate utilitarianism’s reply and argue that utilitarianism can sufficiently answer this objection. While there are different schools within utilitarianism I will be focusing on its most common version: act utilitarianism (from this point on I will refer to it simply as “utilitarianism”). Utilitarianism is a moral theory that tells us what we should and should not do—more specifically, what is a virtuous or vicious action. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states that

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John Stuart Mill, at the very beginning of chapter 2 entitled “what is utilitarianism”. starts off by explaining to the readers what utility is, Utility is defined as pleasure itself, and the absence of pain. This leads us to another name for utility which is the greatest happiness principle. Mill claims that “actions are right in proportions 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 happiness, pain and the privation of pleasure”.

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According to J.S Mill, one should choose an action that maximizes the happiness

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