Mill Utilitarianism

Words: 760
Pages: 4
Open Document
To what extent is utilitarianism helpful in living a truly moral life?
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory proposed by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill which applies the principle of utility to moral problems. This utility refers to the extent to which good and evil are done by choice. The theories of Bentham and Mill are consequentialist, seeing goodness as being about happiness, well-being or pleasure.
Making moral decisions is something every human being does throughout life. How we live has an impact on others. Not just whether we are kind or unpleasant to the people we meet, but also in terms of the sort of relationships we cultivate, the behaviours we adopt or avoid and the principles we choose to live by. Our moral decisions are …show more content…
Moreover, it allows people’s gut morality to be used more than being too legalistic. However, the results of actions are hard to predict, meaning that good intentions often result in bad outcomes. This, therefore, flaws this ethics as people who are bad at predicting outcomes will make many bad mistakes, possibly damaging society.
Bentham says ‘it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong’. It can be argued that the principle of utility would prove very useful for guiding the law towards what many of us today would defend as uninfringeable human rights. In a modern context, we can observe what is being imposed in North Korea and hypothesise that a utilitarian approach would lead to an obviously positive outcome. This would only be the case if the lack of freedom that many are subjected to is not what they …show more content…
By way of contrast, religious moral teachings could contradict one another, leading to ambiguity. An example of this issue is present in the comparison of the Bible as propositional revelation and a liberal approach to Christian ethics from the theologians Paul Tillich and Joseph Fletcher. The legalistic approach offered by The Ten Commandments could be seen as too rigid for Fletcher who claimed that agape love is the only ruling norm. Therefore, it might not be clear for a Christian how to approach moral dilemmas such as abortion and euthanasia, meaning that utilitarianism provides a clear approach which is not affected by
Show More

Related Documents: Mill Utilitarianism

Mill Utilitarianism

Both Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill's ethical theory were based on Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is closely related to hedonism because it takes the principle that pleasure and pain are things that make an action right or wrong. Utilitarianism is a theory to which morally good action are those whose consequences produce the greatest happiness. In this way, there are two basic elements that define utilitarianism: its way of relating the good to the happiness of individuals and their consequentialism…

Words 326 - Pages 2

Comparing Mill And Utilitarianism

through morality, people have never agreed upon the best way to be good. Although many theories focus on the importance of intentions, utilitarianism is a type of consequentialism, which focuses only on the morality of an action’s results. Intentions, though interesting, are morally unimportant, as consequences are really what impact lives. Although utilitarianism does seem to push people towards the correct moral choices the majority of the time, by distinguishing higher pleasures and ignoring such…

Words 1452 - Pages 6

Bentham And Mill And Utilitarianism

Bentham and Mill – Utilitarianism Bentham was basically the inventor of utilitarianism and Utilitarianism is when we wish to have more pleasure than pain and situations should ensure that pleasure outweighs pain. However Bentham refuses to define pleasure and pain philosophically and takes them at face value. Bentham saw happiness as quantitative theory and believed it could be measures, therefore Bentham put forward the idea of hedonistic calculus as a way of measuring pleasure. The hedonic calculus…

Words 862 - Pages 4

John Stuart Mill Utilitarianism

a. John Stuart Mill, who was a proponent of utilitarianism, stated that Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. With this idea Utilitarianism essentially states that the motive of an action does not really matter whenit comes to the moral quality of an action. Mill says that the examination of motives is appropriate for agent evaluation but not act evaluation on top of that he also states that a morally good person…

Words 282 - Pages 2

Who Is John Mill Utilitarianism

Within his writing John Mill uses a very powerful quote to explain his theory of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is built on the idea on weighing decisions and outcomes to see what will give the greatest outcome and bring the most people happiness. Mill makes these comparisons for they create a good mental example of what the theory represents, knowledge. Utilitarianism is about decisions which takes critical thinking to be done well. A human has the ability to think a situation through and put…

Words 310 - Pages 2

John Stuart Mill Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is an ethical theory created by John Stuart Mill (1806-1873). This concept is used to describe a rule of ethics that bases decisions/actions on the considerable amount of satisfaction they bring. This is classified as a teleological theory, since it is focusing on the outcome. This theory is also known as the Greatest Happiness Principle, meaning that an action is morally justified or unjustified depending on how much good or bad it harbors. John Mill clarifies this by stating, “What…

Words 111 - Pages 1

Essay On John Stuart Mill Utilitarianism

John Stuart Mill, in his short work “Utilitarianism,” argues that utilitarian ideals create the most happiness and value for society. In chapter four of the book, Mill argues that the development of positive habits in society is essential to utilitarianism in practice. To support this claim, he distinguishes the concepts of desire and will, stating that morality stems from desire, but that desire fades over time. Will, in Mill’s view, is the driving force in a person over time, and will is susceptible…

Words 414 - Pages 2

John Stuart Mill Utilitarianism Essay

In “Utilitarianism” John Stuart Mill makes a distinction between lower and higher pleasures he explains that they are not equal and pleasure should be ranked not only on quantity but also on quality. I believe Mill is correct about this claim because some types of pleasures are more valuable and desirable than others. Higher pleasures are pleasures that require having cognitive capacities to experience. These are things like intellectual pursuit, being valuable to society, using ones’ imagination…

Words 863 - Pages 4

Utilitarianism: John Stuart Mill and surely Considerable Theory Essay

Consider Utilitarianism, He Asked Nicely In the first chapter of Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mills, the philosopher introduces a question of endless mystery and enduring conversation similar to the arguments over intelligent design or even the creation of the universe. He presents an investigation with endless disputable hypotheses which searches for the primary source which determines proper decision making. Resulting from the delicate critiques of the current popular ethical opinions delivered…

Words 1509 - Pages 7

3rd Paper Ethics

The idea of utilitarianism came from a British philosopher named Jeremy Bentham. One of his students was John Stewart Mill. John S. Mill then studied his mentor’s (Bentham) work and published a novel called Utilitarianism. Mill had some very interesting things to say in Utilitarianism that people to this day are still conversing about. Mill goes into great detail about utilitarianism and its meaning. It is important to fully understand Mill’s teaching in Utilitarianism and understanding…

Words 1190 - Pages 5