Utilitarianism is ultimately concerned with happiness, and utilitarian's believe that the intrinsic value of happiness is unaffected by the identity of the being in which it (happiness) is felt. This means they reject egoism, racism, sexism, and other forms of unfair discrimination. This does not mean that people are not different. We are taller, smarter, stronger than others, but there is no logical reason for assuming that a difference in ability justifies any difference in the consideration given to their interests.

John Stuart Mill, more commonly know as JS Mill, was a philosopher in the 17th century. Born in London in 1806 to James Mill, a well- known philosopher and economist, he became widely known for his essays and writings. In his book Utilitarianism, Mill de

Above I mentioned the word moral. The Oxford Desk Dictionary defines "moral" as, 1)"concerned with the distinction between right and wrong", and 2) "concerned with accepted rules and standards of human behavior." How does a utilitarian feel about what is right vs. what is wrong? Sober uses another example that I shall modify a little. If I am studying to be a research scientist, and I get offered a job working with animals. In order to study their systems completely, I have to kill the animals, "in the name of science". Now, I feel that it is wrong to kill any defenseless creature, but if I do not, someone else will. A utilitarian would say that it makes no difference morally speaking, the net consequences are the same. I feel though that it does make a difference. If I decide to become an animal killer, I have done something wrong, if I do not; I have avoided doing something evil. Moral issues of what kind of person I should be is not something utilitarian's take into consideration. According to utilitarianism, what I should do is look at the net consequences that would occur under each circumstance; this is different from considering what kind of person I ought to be.

Moving off of the Greatest Happiness Principle for a moment, Utilitarian's have a few problems with punishment. A non-utilitarian view of punishment is an eye for an eye. Retributionist want the punishment to fit the crime; utilitarian's want the punishment to be chosen for its benefits. Sober uses the "Lonesome Stranger" as an example of who should be punished for a crime of murder. According to Utilitarianism, there is no absolute requirement that the guilty must be punished and innocent may be as well. They feel as if what should be done depends on which course of action will maximize happiness. I become a little confused at this point, because I have very high morals, and I think that it is morally wrong to punish the innocent. Further on in the text, Sober distinguishes between rule utilitarianism, and act utilitarianism. There are two alternatives to the "Lonesome Stranger" example. 1) Punish the innocent when convenient and 2) Never punish the innocent. Rule utilitarian's will argue that #2 has the better consequences. Why is #2 better than #1? I think that if pe

Some common words found in the essay are:
Happiness Principle, Ten Commandments, Desk Dictionary, , Lonesome Stranger, According Utilitarianism, Jesus Nazareth, Principle Mill, Creed Bible, James Mill, happiness principle, own happiness, punish innocent, ten commandments, increase happiness, happiness conclusion argument, lonesome stranger, happiness conclusion, utilitarian's punishment, mill's arguments, stranger example, own happiness believe, lonesome stranger example,
Approximate Word count = 1520
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)