A Writ : Moral Philosophy Essay

Utilitarianism, in the contrary, is based on the principle of utility or usefulness. Utility is what encourages an agent to act in a particular way (Tuckett, 1998). Utility can be explained as maximizing the good like pleasure and happiness and minimizing the bad like pain and evil, all leading to the greater good for all parties involved. It weights the consequences of the actions equally between the ones involved, and the ethical solution would be to follow the greater good for most if not all the parties involved.

In his argument about the ultimate norm of morality, Mill claims that the utilitarian must claim that happiness happens to be the one and only thing that is desirable in itself. He also claims that the only proof of desirability is desire and goes ahead to give an argument that happiness happens to be the one and only thing that should be desired (Selling, 2016). Most importantly, Mill argues that an individual does desire his own happiness for its personal reasons and that makes happiness to be desired by and becomes desirable for its own sake as well as for humanity as a whole. Additionally, Mill goes ahead and tries to defend his postulation that happiness happens to be the only thing

Mill is noted for his theory on utilitarianism. According to Mill, utility is equated with happiness, and utilitarianism can be referred to as the Greatest Happiness Principle. This principle states that “the ultimate end, with reference to and for the sake of which all other things are desirable (whether we are considering our own good or that of other people), is an existence exempt as far as possible from pain, and as such as possible in enjoyments” (Mill, p. 961). And, I agree this is true. Happiness can be attained by any living creature, but on a multitude of different levels. Mill posits in his text that happiness is greater in potential for humans than it is for lower animals, as humans are able to attain a superior mental form of happiness over bodily forms of happiness. Due to this limitation, Mill believes few humans would

Mill defines happiness as the production of happiness and the absence of pain. Unlike Kant's focus on the individual, Mill believed in considering the happiness of everyone that might be affected by the action. People should seek the greatest amount of happiness possible for all involved.

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,

One might say, however, that some things are desired as a means to happiness. These, he says, are ‘ingredients’ to happiness. Happiness consists of these ‘ingredients’; they are a part of the happiness. Therefore, Mill claims that whatever is desired for its own sake is part of what happiness is, and each individual person desires different things to make them happy. They are means to the end of happiness. It is not possible, according to Mill, to desire something that will not provide some form of pleasure. Pleasure is happiness, and people only desire happiness, and happiness is therefore the only good.

There is an instinctual human need to be curious and seek out answers to unseen questions. It is very natural for us to ask that a one word question “why??” John Stuart Mill’s reflection on happiness in his essay On Utilitarianism offers a normative economic approach to understanding of the search for happiness and the constraints in the search for one’s own need to be an induvial and seeking knowledge.

Mill’s says “happiness is a state of mind resulting from the application of a series of basic principles in society”.  (Haybron, Dan) Utilitarianism; On virtue and happiness, it’s the idea that the goal of society should be to bring about the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people, no one person is greater than anyone else. This brings us to the main concept if Utilitarianism, Utilitarianism recognizes the power of sacrifice, sacrifice must increase for the greater good of all. Mil says “to do as one would be done by, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, constitute to the ideal of utilitarian morality”. (Politics and Ethics, Jeremy)

J.S. Mill was a firm believer that an individual’s personal liberty was essential to both the individual and for the growth of a society. These liberties consisted of the free expression of thought, character and action by the people (Macleod, 1). Mill understood that these personal core liberties were crucial and should never be taken away or suppressed. Exercising these liberties, people would make moral and rational decisions that would benefit both themselves and aid to a society. Mill rationalized this through his “greatest happiness principle”, where he believed that a person based their decisions on what provided them the highest level of pleasure. Mill understood that each person was different, so pleasure as an end state would not always be the same throughout a society, but that happiness in any form was the basis of all human conduct (APUS,1). Mill believed that this was the core to the choices that all humans made, based on learned inductive reasoning.

Mill was educated by his father James Mill, who was a good friend of Jeremy Bentham, both of which influenced Mill’s view on utilitarianism. Bentham’s view is that humans are “unrelentingly driven by narrow self-interest.” Mill rejects this view and believed that human nature has “a desire for perfection” and sympathy for fellow human beings (IEP). Another distinction between Bentham and Mill is their view on pleasure. Bentham believes all forms of happiness are equal, and Mill argue that there are levels to happiness. He states that moral happiness would be superior to physical forms of happiness. In short, this is meant to mean that we as society should maximize the grand total of happiness or pleasure in this

Utilitarianism is a moral theory that has long been the subject of philosophical debate. This theory, when practiced, appears to set a very basic guideline to follow when one is faced with a moral dilemma. Fundamental Utilitarianism states that when a moral dilemma arises, one should take action that causes favorable results or reduces less favorable results. If these less favorable results, or pain, occur from this action, it can be justified if it is produced to prevent more pain or produce happiness. Stating the Utilitarian view can summarize these basic principles: "the greatest good for the greatest number". Utilitarians are to believe that if they follow this philosophy, that no matter what action they take, it

John Stuart Mill is an advocate of the “principle of utility” and believed the ideology behind achieving happiness was acting in favor of the highest good. He presented his theory of “Utilitarianism” as the standard of morality, which

It is a common misunderstanding that utility and pleasure are not the same. Utility is pleasure itself and takes into consideration the quality and quantity of pleasure from the actions taken. The happiness principle says that actions are right if they promote happiness, or pleasure, and wrong if they cause pain. Mill believes that some pleasures are more desirable than others due to the complexity of the human mind, making it harder for us to be happy, therefore making some states of happiness higher quality than others. Mill ultimately says that people with open minds will be happier due to different varieties of interest while people with narrow minds will have a harder time being happy. According to utility, we can’t enjoy pleasure without

In Utilitarianism, Mill noted, “utility includes not solely the pursuit of happiness, but the prevention or mitigation of unhappiness” (Mill 12).

Utilitarianism is a theory aimed at defining one simple basis that can be applied when making any ethical decision. It is based on a human’s natural instinct to seek pleasure and avoid pain.