John Stuart Mills Utilitarianism Essay

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Hey,
How are you? I’ve learned a lot of new things these past few weeks. In class, we’ve read an essay by an author named John Stuart Mills, and he explains his thoughts on the subject of utilitarianism. He defines it as, “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.”(pg. 330) The goal of his essay is to clear up any misapprehensions that others may have on the subject. After Mill defined utilitarianism, he defines happiness, as “pleasures” or “the absence of pain” (pg. 330). Which brings us back to my previous letter, how do we measure happiness with pleasures? He explains that pleasures can differ in quality or quantity. Meaning that the pleasures that come from …show more content…

His firsts admits that the most honorable people in the world have abandoned happiness. However, he asserts that these people must sacrifice happiness to seek a greater good. Well, he doesn’t really give any evidence, but it’s almost open-ended, in the sense that maybe he expects the audience to prove it themselves, by putting themselves in a scenario where they had to choose between a higher pleasure and a similar, lower pleasure. It’s safe to say that most people would prefer higher pleasures. Mill also asserts that “there is no difference between the happiness of any one person and any other, even if one of those people is oneself.” (pg.348) Meaning that everyone’s happiness should count for as much happiness as everyone else’s, and if this is true then what do we do that’s not for a lower or higher pleasure? Reading? Evaluating the arts? A job? Nothing, there isn’t anything we do that’s not for a pleasure, at least that’s what Mill believes. Would you read something you didn’t want to read? No, you do it for pleasure... Some people say “well, I don’t have a job out of pleasure”, some people may not directly, but if you have a job, what are you working for? Some people may say, “To buy things I want”, and those things you want just feed your pleasures. Now, how about if someone said, “I work to support my family”. It’s a noble thing to say, and it’s a utilitarian thing to say, that person

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