ipl-logo

John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism

1390 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: John stuart mill's utilitarianism vs original utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is a concept that came from philosopher Jeremy Bentham in 1781. Original utilitarianism dictates that people should make decisions by weighing the outcomes of different choices, and then choose the one that provides the greatest amount of “happiness” for all. John Stuart Mill, a philosopher with his own version of utilitarianism, explains that happiness can be defined as pleasure, but unlike traditional utilitarianism there is a system of hierarchy, insisting, “Some pleasures are higher than others”. For example, the pleasure of knowledge is higher than pure sensual pleasures. (Munson 864) But in order to fulfill a perfect utilitarian life, Mill stated that not only would the happiness of the many be more important than the happiness …show more content…

Even if someone is Christ-like enough to put aside their own desires, they couldn’t calculate all the possible outcomes of all the possible actions one can take before acting. In order to do this, a person would have to be able to see all the infinite futures, determine the results from actions in each future and choose the one that provides the least amount of unhappiness and/or the most happiness. The human mind could never compute even a fraction of the infinite number of possibilities enough to even be marginally right. Millennia would pass before that person was done computing possible futures and their degrees of happiness. The functionality of utilitarian ideals wouldn’t be possible to enact because of this …show more content…

Ideally, everyone would like to provide happiness for others. People are naturally altruistic to an extent. For example, in obstetrics, it’s common practice to save the mother in a high-risk pregnancy over the child, because the woman can have more children and immediately provide happiness for a community. Utilitarianism justifies this action because there is the potential to create more happiness by saving the mother and her ability to have more children, than the child who has a long time before they can contribute to the happiness of society. Utilitarianism also justifies the sadness a physician will feel from not saving both. Because he saved the individual with the highest potential over the self-interest and futility of trying to save both, he was truly altruistic and thus truly utilitarian. Though this does support utilitarianism, it’s only a special circumstance that can’t carry to every aspect of how someone lives their

Show More
Related

Utilitarianism And The Prime Directive: Star Trek

306 Words | 2 Pages

Mills explains Utilitarianism as achieving life’s goals, it is what everyone wants or seek for. He further explains that utilitarianism promotes the quality of life. Furthermore, utilitarianism is connected to happiness, because we all seek to achieve different goals in life, and those goals are what makes up happy. We all want certain things in life, or want to achieve certain things. Utilitarianism promotes happiness, happiness exclude pain, suffering, struggles, stress, and anything that makes one ‘unhappy’ or ‘sad’.

Read More

Theory Of Utilitarianism And Drinking Age

1533 Words | 7 Pages

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

Read More

Hedonistic Utilitarianism

1365 Words | 6 Pages

Therefore, this form of utilitarianism highlights that the most important is the happiness of everyone and not the happiness of any particular person. In order to explain this assertion, for example, take Hitler, if he has had conquered the Europe it would be a very good place to live for those who are Aryans, yet it would be terrifying for other people. It is make some suffer to make others prosper. I think correctly, that principles of this sort can have some pretty awful results because sometimes the greatest happiness of the greatest number involved disregarding the interests of a minority, even to the point of enslaving them or killing them This isn't the only objection to utilitarianism, but it’s an important and I believe a fatal

Read More

Difference Between Mill And John Stuart Mill Utilitarianism

623 Words | 3 Pages

Word Count: Emily Schrock Dr. Liberman PHIL 201-02 7 October 2017 Utilitarianism Many have tried to explain the concept of morality and what makes certain actions right and others wrong. One of the best-known theories, presented by men such as Jeremy Benthamn and John Stuart Mill, is coined utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is a theory about morality stating that an action is right if it promotes the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest amount of people, as happiness or utility is the only thing in the world that is purely good (Mill 229).

Read More

Essay On Divine Command Theory

1218 Words | 5 Pages

The main principle of utilitarianism is happiness. People who follow this theory strive to fulfill the “ultimate good”. The “ultimate good” is defined as ultimate pleasure with out any pain. It is said that the pleasure can be of any quantity and any quality, but pleasures that are weighted more important are put at a higher level than others that are below it. This ethical theory also states that if society would fully embrace utilitarianism then people would naturally realize their moral standing in the

Read More

What Are The Arguments Against Utilitarianism

682 Words | 3 Pages

Furthermore, Utilitarianism violates the basic of human rights. It technically impossible to measure the value of a person’s life relative to another. Some may argue that a person’s life is measured by the contribution he has or could made to the society but others may argue that they are equal. In order to calculate the exact value of one’s life is thus subjected to each individual perspective and hence impractical. Another point is that happiness cannot be accurately measured.

Read More

John Stuart Mill's Idea Of Utilitarianism

1410 Words | 6 Pages

I am writing on John Stuart Mill’s idea of Utilitarianism. This is Mills concept of how to determine what is right and what is wrong based on consequences. Utilitarianism is the idea that the consequence of an action is happiness then the action is therefore considered justified. Mills claims that “each person’s happiness is a good to that person, and the general happiness” (McCloskey, pg 61). When he says this he means that if one specific thing benefits one person then that same thing should be beneficial to everyone else as well.

Read More

Mill's Utilitarianism

1516 Words | 7 Pages

When we are selfish and do not try to promote general happiness we would end up living an unsatisfied life. Mill said, “In a world in which there is so much to interest, so much to enjoy, and so much also to correct and improve, everyone who has this moderate amount of moral and intellectual requisites is capable of an existence which may be called enviable” (Mill 14). I believe he is pointing out that everyone is capable of living a satisfied life as long as there is not something major that is holding them back such as being born into an uncivilized county. Being born into an uncivilized country does not allow you to have everything that you need you live a good life. There would be less access to health care and housing which would lower the overall quality of life which result in lower happiness.

Read More

John Stuart Mill Utilitarianism

440 Words | 2 Pages

Utilitarianism according to John Stuart Mill is a theory that is based on humans and our principles, "actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness." Mill talks about the principle of utility and how that ties into utilitarianism. The principle of utility basically states that human actions and behaviors are ok if they promote pleasure or happiness. Also, that anything that causes pain or unhappiness is wrong. An example of this is a child does good in school so they get ice cream.

Read More

Utilitarianism Theory: Jeremy Bentham And John Mill

1259 Words | 6 Pages

1. Utilitarianism Philosopher View (Jeremy Bentham & John Mill) Utilitarianism theory was founded by Jeremy Bentham and then got expanded by John Mill who came up with the 2 types or forms of Utilitarianism which are Act Utilitarianism and Rule Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism says an action is right if it tends to promote happiness, and wrong if it tends to produce the reverse of happiness and doesn’t just involve the happiness of the performer of the action but also that of everyone affected by it.

Read More

John Stuart Mill On Happiness Essay

852 Words | 4 Pages

A man by the name of John Stuart Mill seems to be able to give us some answers to these questions. Mill starts our inquiring journey with defining what utilitarianism stands for. In short he states that it is the construction of utility, which claims that the actions that stimulate happiness in is morally fit and vice versa to be unfit. Happiness is something that we want for

Read More

Critical Analysis Of John Stuart Mill's 'Utilitarianism'

1564 Words | 7 Pages

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”.

Read More

Immanuel Kant's Theory Of Utilitarianism

1228 Words | 5 Pages

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

Read More

Is Utilitarianism Relevant In Today's Society

494 Words | 2 Pages

Utilitarianism is a moral philosophy that is credited to being created by Jeremey Bentham. Bentham believed that all humans make choices based on two feelings, pain and pleasure. Because of this, Bentham believed that motives are not good or bad in nature but instead on what feeling a human might feel more.

Read More

Deontology Vs Utilitarianism

1515 Words | 7 Pages

The morality of an action is determined by the outcome of that action. At an initial glance, Utilitarianism seems as if it would be a superior way to live a life full of good will, as it is focused on doing the most

Read More

More about John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism

Related Topics

Open Document