Utilitarianism- Mill

A detailed Summary of Utilitarianism- Mill


One well-known philosopher who dealt with the theory of utilitarianism was John Stuart Mill. Mill was the leading philosopher in Britain during the nineteenth century and defended the theory of utility against many critics. Numerous others argued that the simple obtainment of pleasure and avoidance of pain was the sole goal of the utilitarian. Meaning that any form of pleasure, whether it be mental or bodily satisfaction, in the greatest amount possible was the only desirable end. Mill, in opposition to this, argues that the higher the quality of a pleasure, the more satisfied the agent would be. He stated that what makes one pleasure more valuable than another is that "if one of the two is, by those who are competently acquainted with both, placed so far above the other that they prefer it, even though knowing it to be attended with a greater amount of discontent, and would not resign it for any quantity of the other pleasure"(Mill, 384). He believes that even if a large amount of lower pleasure is obtained, it still will not be as fulfilling as a small amount of higher pleasure. Mill theorizes that it "is not the agent's own great


From an external point of view, those who believe in Mill's theories of utilitarianism should find them quite clear and helpful. If an agent wishes to live a satisfying, noble life free of pain and filled with great happiness, he or she can follow the practices of Mill and in turn attempt to avoid the lesser pleasures and strive to attain the superior pleasures. Unfortunately, even though most people would not deny that the better choice of the two options in the posed situation would be that of the higher quality, it is almost human nature to settle for the easily attainable, less significant satisfaction than to go out of one's way to acquire the hard to reach, superior gratification.

A personal-choice situation that would be significant in describing the ideas of John Stuart Mill would be as follows: A woman, who we will call Jen, is planning to buy a nice gift for her husband, who we will call Tom, his birthday is approaching and she is not quite sure what to get him. So, Jen decides to give him a choice between two options she has narrowed it down to. The first choice is giving him a certificate to obtain a free drink at a lo

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Approximate Word count = 772
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