John Stuart Mill On Happiness Analysis

The concept of Happiness is a concept that shows how individuals should live in general. Individuals usually attempt to do whatever it is necessary to obtain what it takes to be happy. The ultimate goal of an individual is to be happy regardless of which actions are needed in order to achieve this goal. John Stuart Mill supports the idea of making any decision as long as it makes an individual achieve happiness, and in that case it is considered to be morally correct. In his work “Utilitarianism”, Mill defends the idea of utilitarianism. Mill properly encourages people to pursue happiness, and claims that happiness is the most important goal to accomplish. Utilitarianism, as an ethical theory based on consequences and happiness, is a justified …show more content…
The reason why utility is not prolonged happiness is because when somebody is continuously happy, that person loses interest in taking any further actions that will benefit in others in order to be generally happy. Pleasure should not always last for a long time because it is something that should vary with time, in order to feel what happiness is because there is always pain in certain times, but we always try to choose what will outweigh pain and cause us happiness. Mill also stresses that, “The utilitarian morality does recognize in human beings the power of sacrificing their own greatest good for the good of others” (371), which shows how at one point in time, an individual has to sacrifice its own happiness in order to promote happiness to others. This idea connects to Mill’s previous claim about continuous happiness because it shows how being happy for a long time is impossible because somehow we need to consider to what extent we should be happy, and share that happiness with those who might need it the most by not being …show more content…
I believe that people should endorse utilitarianism because in order for us to live in a world free of injustices and peaceful, we need to promote happiness and stop judging society, if no actions are being taken in order to live a happier life. In general, act-utilitarianism emphasizes the precise context, and the different characteristics of a given situation that represents a moral problem, and it shows a specific technique in order to deal with the case. Additionally, rule-utilitarianism elaborates on the regular characteristics of human beings and how issues occur based on their needs and problems. Furthermore, Mill would agree, and say that we need rules that will deal with actions which are not morally correct such as: stealing, killing, lying, cheating, etc., in order for us to achieve what is desired by all humans, happiness. However, both act- and rule-utilitarianism can be said to agree with that what determines if an action is morally right or wrong is the connection that there is between what we do, and its consequences in relation to the general happiness of the greatest number of