Utilitarianism Summary | Chapterly
Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill: A Complete Summary "Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness." Overview Utilitarianism (1861/1863) is John Stuart Mill's refined defense of utilitarian ethics. Building on Jeremy Bentham's work, Mill argues that the right action maximizes happiness - not crude pleasure, but the higher pleasures of the intellect, feelings, imagination, and moral sentiments. The Greatest Happiness Principle "The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse." Happiness = pleasure and the absence of pain Unhappiness = pain and the privation of pleasure Higher and Lower Pleasures Mill distinguishes pleasures qualitatively, not just quantitatively. Intellectual and moral pleasures are superior to bodily ones: "It is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied." The test: those who have experienced both types competently prefer the higher pleasures. No one would choose to become a lower creature even for complete satisfaction of lower desires. Proof of the Principle Mill offers a controversial "proof": 1. The only evidence something...