Comparing the Utility of Bentham and Mill

Comparing the Utility of Bentham and Mill

utility

U*til"i*ty, n. [OE. utilite, F. utilit['e], L. utilitas, fr. utilis useful. See Utile.] …

3. Happiness; the greatest good, or happiness, of the greatest number, -- the foundation of utilitarianism. --J. S. Mill.

Syn: Usefulness; advantageous; benefit; profit; avail; service. (www.dictionary.com)

One of the major players in ethical theories has long been the concept of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism states that in general the ethical rightness or wrongness of an action is directly related to the utility of that action. Utility is more specifically defined as a measure of the goodness or badness of the consequences of an action (see quote by Mill above). For the purposes of this paper, Utility will be considered to be the tendency to produce happiness. There are two types of Utilitarianism; these are “act” and “rule”. An act utilitarian uses thought processes associated with utilitarianism (i.e. the principle of utility) to make all decisions, this requires a lot of thought and careful calculation. For example, an act utilitarian deciding from a list of possible day trips would sit down and calculate out the utility of each possible decision before coming to a conclusion as to which one was preferable. Contrary to an act utilitarian, a rule utilitarian uses the principles of utility to create a set of rules by which they live. Rule utilitarians are not incapable of calculating a decision; they just do not see a need to do it all the time. For example, a rule utilitarian might have some rules like this: in general do not kill, in general do not steal, in general do not lie; but if they found a situation that might except the rule they would do the cal...

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...ch follows a different kind of utilitarianism. Some of the differences are made quite evident in the information provided above such as, views of ethical altruistic hedonism vs. psychological egoistic hedonism and the application of the principle of utility. The two pioneers of utility make a very interesting comparison to say the least. Especially when you consider that Bentham was the philosopher who converted Mill’s father to utilitarianism.

Works Cited

Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, in A. I. Melden, ed., Ethical Theories 2nd Edition. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1957) p.382, 385

Mill, John S. Utilitarianism, in A. I. Melden, ed., Ethical Theories 2nd Edition. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1957) p.407

Mill, John S. Utility, in Dictionary: http://www.dictionary.com. (Lexico LLC., 2002)