Jeremy Camp

John Stuart Mill’s theory of higher and lower pleasures can be a tricky one. In fact, Mill defines happiness as the absence of pain, and unhappiness as the consequence of pain and the absence of pleasure. In other words, in his view, happiness is directly, related to pleasure. However, Mill points out the fact that not all pleasures are the same. For instance, he claims that intellectual pleasures are with no doubt safer than physical pleasures. As humans, we tend to chase the pleasures of…

The proper route to obtain eternal happiness is a controversial subject for many. Should one constantly focus on his own personal happiness, or should one make the happiness of others his priority? What if the individual who endeavors never-ending euphoria is indeed the most broken inside? This concept was the chief issue in the autobiography of John Stuart Mill, a 19th century English philosopher. Mill's reasoning of just 'going with the flow' by concentrating less about personal happiness is…

John Mill’s approach to justice is a qualitative approach based on the foundation of utilitarianism, which is what creates the greatest happiness or the most good for people is the right thing to do. This approach is teleological in so the ends or happiness justify the means or actions are in proportion. Mill is focused on rule-utilitarianism, which does not test each individual action directly by the first principle of utility, but instead, the individual act is just if it conforms to a…

Jordan Boykin Donny Leveston English 1301 9/28/16 Success Success. What is success? Is it financial stability? Or is it achieving one’s personal goals? According to Merriam Webster dictionary success is “the fact of getting or achieving wealth, respect, or fame”,“ the correct or desired result of an attempt”, or “someone or something that is successful a person or thing that succeeds”. The word success comes from the Latin term…

philosophers of all time and while they share a few similarities, they are, for the most part, very different. Marx was totally different from just about everyone that had come before him while Mill, on the other hand, did take the basis of his beliefs from Jeremy Bentham, and his father, James Mill but just the basics, as he made major changes and found many flaws with the initial idea of utilitarianism. Mill did agree on it in it’s most basic form but also believed that there was much more to…

Most persuasive: Utilitarianism Mill’s theory of utilitarianism is based on “greatest happiness principle” that says “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness” (Ethics: Theory and Contemporary Issues, Chapter 5). Mill defines happiness as pleasure and absence of pain. According to Mill, morality is based on the quality and quantity of pleasure produced by an action. It is not what you do, but how much of…

Bentham and Mill, although both firm believers in Utilitarianism, had somewhat different views when it came to decision making. Bentham uses a step by step process in his essay describing the thought process that one should have when determining the outcome of an action. Similar to Mill’s belief, if the outcome were to bring more happiness to the community as a whole than pain, than that decision is just. However, Mill believed that to make a proper and good decision required using the analyzing…

Morality and Social Responsibility. Mills was a hedonist, even though this word had a different meaning than from today’s society and to him it meant is that pleasure was the only good to people. Mills believed that different ideas of good were gained by pleasure. Pleasure was an idea of good that could lead no place else (Brink, 2016). The problem with this is that people can get pleasure from things that harm other people and they find pleasure from different things that…

Ethical Egoism would say the correct moral decision would be to lie to David so he will borrow you the money. Ethical egoism views one’s duty to themselves as the highest of priorities. It’s ok for the consequences of your actions to be positive for you and negative for others because your value is greater than theirs. Ethical egoism looks at the personal outcome and only the personal outcome matters. I would say that your child’s best interest would also be your best interest. If your child has…

Introduction: "Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness" (Mill, 1863). Utilitarianism is the ethical theory that happiness is the only thing that truly matters, or has intrinsic value to humanity. Importantly, its supporters believe that everyone's happiness matters equally, regardless of social status, wealth, or other superficial values, and in fact, people should always act to maximize overall happiness, or…