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?

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 ...

John Stuart Mill | Biography, Philosophy, Utilitarianism, On …

John Stuart Mill, English philosopher, economist, and exponent of utilitarianism. He was prominent as a publicist in the reforming age of the 19th century, and he remains of lasting interest as a logician and an ethical theorist. Learn more about Mill's life, philosophy, and accomplishments in this article.

"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: 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 ...

Works of John Stuart Mill and his understanding of Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism, in normative ethics, a tradition stemming from the late 18th- and 19th-century English philosophers and economists Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill according to which an action (or type of action) is right if it tends to promote happiness or pleasure and wrong if it tends to. John Stuart Mill, (born May 20, 1806, London, Eng ...

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 ...

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 | Quotes, Utilitarianism & Theory

Living and writing during nineteenth-century England, John Stuart Mill (1806 1873) produced to seminal text in ethics and political philosophy: On Liberty (1859) and Utilitarianism (1863).

Utilitarianism | SpringerLink

Utilitarianism is one of the most influential theories of contemporary moral and political theory. It "arguably has the distinction of being the moral theory that, more than any other, shapes the discipline of moral theory and forms the background against which rival theories are imagined, refined, and articulated" (Eggleston and Miller ...

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.)

Utilitarianism – A Level Philosophy & Religious Studies

The principle of Utility holds that the goal of moral action is to maximise happiness. Mill says he "entirely" agrees with Bentham's principle of Utility, that what makes an action good is the degree to which it promotes happiness over suffering. Mill calls this the principle of Utility the 'first principle'.

"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

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

Introduction. 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 …

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.

Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is a moral theory that judges actions based on their consequences—specifically, based on their effects on well-being. Most utilitarians take well-being to be constituted largely by happiness, and historically utilitarianism has been known by the phrase "the greatest happiness for the greatest number.".

Utilitarianism – Introduction to Philosophy: Ethics

Utilitarians' concern is how to increase net utility. Their moral theory is based on the principle of utility which states that "the morally right action is the action that produces the most good" (Driver 2014). The morally wrong action is the one that leads to the reduction of the maximum good.

Utilitarianism

Definition. Utilitarianism is a philosophy founded by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and then extended by other thinkers, notably John Stuart Mill (1806-1873). Utilitarianism involves the greatest happiness principle, which holds that a law or action is good if it promotes the greatest happiness of the greatest number, happiness being …

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.

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 …

Mill, John Stuart | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

John Stuart Mill (1806—1873) John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) profoundly influenced the shape of nineteenth century British thought and political discourse. His substantial corpus of works includes texts in logic, epistemology, economics, social and political philosophy, ethics, metaphysics, religion, and current affairs.

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 ...

John Stuart Mill | Biography, Philosophy, …

John Stuart Mill (born May 20, 1806, London, England—died May 8, 1873, Avignon, France) English philosopher, economist, and exponent of utilitarianism. He was prominent as a publicist in the …

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 ...

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 ...

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 …

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.

An Introduction to Mill's Utilitarian Ethics

John Stuart Mill was the leading British philosopher of the nineteenth century and his famous essay Utilitarianism is the most influential statement of the philosophy of utilitarianism: that actions, laws, policies and institutions are to be evaluated by their utility or contribution to good or bad consequences.

8: Mill and Utilitarianism Flashcards | Quizlet

True. Mill's utilitarianism is different from Mill's utilitarianism in all of the following ways except: b. Mill focuses on quality rather than quantity of pleasure. d. Bentham thought that pleasure and pain could be calculated, while Mill thought pleasure and pain cannot be calculated and that they are incommensurable.