PHIL-P 140 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: John Stuart Mill
Document Summary
Mill begins chapter 2 by reacting to certain prevalent misconceptions concerning utilitarianism. First, some people think that utility is to be contrasted with pleasure. Mill equates utility" with pleasure and the absence of pain. Utility" is sometimes also contrasted with things like beauty, ornament, and amusement. But again, according to mill, this is mistaken; these are just different forms of pleasure and, as we"ve seen, mill equates utility with pleasure and the absence of pain. Mill then goes on to give a clear statement of his 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 of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain and the privation of pleasure. (p. 7) Mill then mentions an objection to this position.
