John Stuart Mill: The Morality Of Chapter 2 Of Utilitarianism

Summum bonum is the highest form of good according to the values and priorities in an ethical system. For John Stuart Mill, the summum bonum is happiness. Mill is lead to this belief by regarding happiness as the ultimate aim of humanity – to live a life as free from pain and as rich in enjoyment as possible. This is the ideology of utilitarianism, or Mill’s moral theory that judges the ethicality of an action following its utility. Mill’s argument of chapter 2 of Utilitarianism is defining the greatest happiness principle and addressing misconceptions and criticisms opponents have. Through spring-boarding off opponent’s arguments, Mill defines the utilitarian vocabulary and fortifies his theory of morality. Mill begins by first defining “utility” in a way that holds the word neutral from belief that it is opposed to or based solely on pleasure. He defines utility as “not something to be contradistinguished from pleasure, but pleasure itself, together with …show more content…
He states, “if the greatest happiness of all is the end of human action, it must be the standard of morality.” (11) Opponents to this theory state that happiness is unattainable, and humans can do without it. Mill responds to this by clarifying that utilitarianism is not only the pursuit of happiness, but “the prevention of lessening happiness.” (11) Therefore, Mill concludes that utilitarianism is more necessary if happiness is unattainable. Mill then tells of the condition of happiness: happiness is not a continuous state of pleasure, but rather “the occasional brilliant flash if enjoyment” (12) because if happiness is a continuous state, it would most definitely be unattainable. He later addresses that humans can do without happiness, but it is unnecessary unless doing so is an action of self-sacrifice that is intended towards promoting happiness. This shows that happiness is inherent and