philosophy of mill utilitarianism

Consequentialism and Utilitarianism | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Consequentialism and Utilitarianism are two related ethical theories that evaluate the moral worth of actions based on their outcomes. This article from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy introduces the main concepts, arguments, and objections of these influential views. Learn how consequentialists and utilitarians apply their principles to various …

Utilitarianism Chapter 1: General Remarks Summary & Analysis

A summary of Chapter 1: General Remarks in John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of Utilitarianism and what it means. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans.

History of Utilitarianism | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

History of Utilitarianism. The term "utilitarianism" is most-commonly used to refer to an ethical theory or a family of related ethical theories. It is taken to be a form of consequentialism, which is the view that the moral status of an action depends on the kinds of consequences the action produces. Stated this way, consequentialism is ...

Mill's Moral and Political Philosophy

1. Mill's Intellectual Background. 1.1 The Philosophical Radicals. 2. Mill's Utilitarianism. 2.1 Psychological Egoism. 2.2 Happiness and Higher Pleasures. 2.3 Perfectionist Elements. 2.4 Reconciling the Elements. 2.5 Conceptions of Duty. 2.6 …

Bentham, Jeremy | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

1. Life. A leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law and one of the founders of utilitarianism, Jeremy Bentham was born in Houndsditch, London on February 15, 1748. He was the son and grandson of attorneys, and his early family life was colored by a mix of pious superstition (on his mother's side) and Enlightenment rationalism ...

Jeremy Bentham

Jeremy Bentham. Jeremy Bentham, jurist and political reformer, is the philosopher whose name is most closely associated with the foundational era of the modern utilitarian tradition. Earlier moralists had enunciated several of the core ideas and characteristic terminology of utilitarian philosophy, most notably John Gay, Francis …

Utilitarianism: What It Is, Founders, and Main …

Utilitarianism: A philosophy that bases the moral worth of an action upon the number of people it gives happiness or pleasure to. A utilitarian philosophy is used when making social, economic or ...

John Stuart Mill: Main Ideas

Mill was raised with an advanced education and was translating Greek before he was even in his teens. His teacher and mentor, Jeremy Bentham, was an enormous influence on his philosophy, but Mill was able to minimize most of the major flaws in Bentham's version of Utilitarianism to allow it to hold the status that it currently …

The Project Gutenberg eBook of Utilitarianism, by John Stuart Mill.

If the view adopted by the utilitarian philosophy of the nature of the moral sense be correct, this difficulty will always present itself, until the influences which form moral character have taken the same hold of the principle which they have taken of some of the consequences—until, by the improvement of education, the feeling of unity with ...

John Stuart Mill: British Philosopher, Utilitarianism

Mill's father was a proponent of Jeremy Bentham's philosophy of utilitarianism, and Mill began embracing it himself in his middle teens. Later, he started to believe that his rigorous ...

J.S. Mill's Utilitarianism: Promote the Most …

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) is considered the most influential English-speaking philosopher of the nineteenth century. He defended classical liberal ideals such as the freedom of individuals against absolute state …

Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill Plot Summary | LitCharts

Utilitarianism Summary. The stated purpose of John Stuart Mill 's Utilitarianism is deceptively simple: the author wants to clearly explain his utilitarian ethical philosophy and respond to the most common criticisms of it. In many instances, however, the book is much more layered and complex: Mill often references other important ethical ...

The Philosophy of Utilitarianism and the Critics of Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is a philosophy of society in which every action should be done for the benefit of everyone, not merely the benefit of an individual. Mill's philosophy relies heavily on the sentiment of justice. It is human nature to react to acts of injustice, and we cannot exclude these feelings from our theory of morality.

Utilitarianism Summary and Study Guide | SuperSummary

Overview. "Utilitarianism" is a philosophical essay written by English philosopher John Stuart Mill in 1863. In this long essay, Mill seeks to provide a definition for the moral philosophy of utilitarianism, which was originally developed by the philosopher Jeremy Bentham. As a philosophy, utilitarianism argues that a desire for happiness ...

Utilitarianism, Act and Rule | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

The Blackwell Guide to Mill's Utilitarianism. Blackwell, 2006. This contains the complete text of Mill's Utilitarianism preceded by three essays on the background to Mill's utilitarianism and followed by five interpretative essays and four focusing on contemporary issues. Henry R. West. An Introduction to Mill's Utilitarian Ethics.

"Utilitarianism," by John Stuart Mill

Mill's utilitarianism is roundly criticized by the British idealists T. H. Green and F. H. Bradley, his ethics stands as perhaps the most influential philosophy of individual and social liberty in the nineteenth century. From the reading... "It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better

5.7: John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism (Part 1)

You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at Title: Utilitarianism Author: John Stuart Mill Release Date: February 22, 2004 [EBook #11224] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT …

2.4 Utilitarianism: The Greatest Good for the Greatest …

The experience left him dissatisfied with Bentham's philosophy of utility and social reform. As an alternative, Mill turned to Romanticism and poets like Coleridge and Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749–1832). 48 What he ended up with, however, was not a rejection of utilitarianism but a synthesis of utility and human rights. Why rights?

Utilitarianism – A Level Philosophy & Religious Studies

Generic Rule Utilitarianism adds the idea of following rules to the principle of utility. So, an action is good if it conforms to a rule which maximises happiness. We need to determine whether following a rule, e.g., like not lying, will promote more happiness than not following it. If so, then following that rule is good.

James Mill

James Mill. James Mill (1773–1836) was a Scots-born political philosopher, historian, psychologist, educational theorist, economist, and legal, political and penal reformer. Well-known and highly regarded in his day, he is now all but forgotten. Mill's reputation now rests mainly on two biographical facts. The first is that his first-born ...

Ethics

Mill's easily readable prose ensured a wide audience for his exposition of utilitarianism, but as a philosopher he was markedly inferior to the last of the 19th-century utilitarians, Henry Sidgwick (1838–1900). Sidgwick's Methods of Ethics (1874) is the most detailed and subtle work of utilitarian ethics yet produced. Especially noteworthy is his discussion of …

Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism - Bentham, Mill, Ethics: The ingredients of utilitarianism are found in the history of thought long before Bentham. A hedonistic theory of the value of life is found in the early 5th century bce in the ethics of Aristippus of Cyrene, founder of the Cyrenaic school, and a century later in that of Epicurus, founder of an ethic of retirement (see …

"Utilitarianism," by John Stuart Mill

Although Mill's utilitarianism is roundly criticized by the British idealists T. H. Green and F. H. Bradley, his ethics stands as perhaps the most influential philosophy of individual …

Utilitarianism Quotes by John Stuart Mill

Utilitarianism Quotes Showing 1-30 of 47. "It is indisputable that the being whose capacities of enjoyment are low, has the greatest chance of having them fully satisfied; and a highly endowed being will always feel that any happiness which he can look for, as the world is constituted, is imperfect. But he can learn to bear its imperfections ...

utilitarianism summary | Britannica

James Mill was a Scottish philosopher, historian, and economist. He was prominent as a representative of philosophical radicalism, a school of thought also known as Utilitarianism, which emphasized the need for a scientific basis for philosophy as well as a humanist approach to politics and

Consequentialism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Act consequentialism is the claim that an act is morally right if and only if that act maximizes the good, that is, if and only if the total amount of good for all minus the total amount of bad for all is greater than this net amount for any incompatible act available to the agent on that occasion. (Cf. Moore 1912, chs. 1–2.)

John Stuart Mill: Life, Philosophy and Legacy

Utilitarianism. At the heart of Mill's philosophy is the tenet of utilitarianism, often referred to as the "greatest happiness principle", which, aiming to maximize overall well-being for both individuals and society, affirms that actions are morally right when they promote happiness and wrong when they produce unhappiness.

Introduction to Utilitarianism | Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is the view that one ought always to promote overall well-being. The core idea is that we should want all lives to go as well as possible, 9. with no-one's well-being counting for more or less than anyone else's. Sometimes philosophers talk about "welfare" or "utility" rather than "well-being", but these words are ...

Utilitarianism: Strengths & Weaknesses – Ethics and Society

Philosophy, Ethics and Thinking. Mark Dimmock and Andrew Fisher, Ethics for A-Level. ... John Stuart Mill, one of the foremost Utilitarian moral theorists, sums up Utilitarianism ... like George, were also against chemical and biological warfare. Utilitarianism will tell us that George should disregard their interests and feelings and perform ...

Mill, John Stuart | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

On Mill's view, intuitionism needed to be defeated in the realms of logic, mathematics, and philosophy of mind if its pernicious effects in social and political discourse were to be mitigated. In his writings, Mill argues for a …