PHIL 1050 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: John Stuart Mill, Henry Sidgwick, Jeremy Bentham
14 Apr 2013
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Document Summary
Classical utilitarianism can be summed up in three propositions: 1) the morality of an action depends solely on the consequences of the action; nothing else matters. 2) an action"s consequences matter only insofar as they involve greater or lesser happiness of individuals. 3) in the assessment of consequences, each individual"s happiness gets. This means nobody"s well-being matters more because of their social status or looks etc. Classical utilitarianism: an action is right if it produces the greatest overall balance of happiness over unhappiness. Classical utilitarianism was developed and defended by 3 of the greatest philosophers in the 19th century england: As mill puts it: the utilitarian doctrine is that happiness is desirable, and the only thing desirable, as an end; all other things being only desirable as means to that end . They believe that pleasure includes all mental states that feel good. Ex. sense of accomplishment, delicious taste, etc.
