Summary Of John Stuart Mill Utilitarianism

In Chapter II of Utilitarianism Mill raises a variety of objections to the moral theory of utility or the Greatest Happiness Principle. In Mill’s observation people misinterpret utilitarianism as an oppression to pleasure. In reality, a utility is known as pleasure itself. The principle of utilitarianism holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness. In this principle happiness are the intended pleasure and the absence of pain. Pleasure and the absence of pain in the utilitarian principle are required to be inherently good. Thus, actions are good when they aim to a higher level of general happiness and if an action is bad the level of that happiness is decreased. Experiences, events or circumstances is desirable sources of pleasure. Mill takes on the claim that the base of the source of pleasure and demeaning reduces the meaning of life to pleasure. Therefore, an action that is desired as an end and only as an end is good. Another objection about utilitarianism is where the principle itself stems from a confusion of happiness is with contentment. People with good actions as a form …show more content…
When individuals are made aware of their higher faculties, they will never be happy to leave their pleasure uncultivated. He states that some pleasures may be the base and are intrinsically more valuable than others. The moral of utility takes into account of an action by not just the quantity of it but also the quality of a pleasure it results from. Mill delineates the distinction between higher and lower level quality pleasures. A pleasure of higher quality is chosen over a different pleasure, even if it is associated with discontent and if a person does not trade it for a greater amount of the other pleasure. Mill states that it is an unquestionable fact that people would prefer anything that appeals to their higher