UTILITARIANISM IBD

Sinopsis

John Stuart MillâÇÖs bookáUtilitarianismáis a classic exposition and defence ofáutilitarianismáin ethics. The essay first appeared as a series of three articles published ináFraserâÇÖs Magazineáin 1861 (vol. 64, p.á391-406, 525-534, 659-673), the articles were collected and reprinted as a single book in 1863. MillâÇÖs aim in the book is to explain what utilitarianism is, to show why it is the best theory of ethics, and to defend it against a wide range of criticisms and misunderstandings. Though heavily criticized both in MillâÇÖs lifetime and in the years since,áUtilitarianismádid a great deal to popularize utilitarian ethicsáand has been considered 'the most influential philosophical articulation of a liberal humanistic morality that was produced in the nineteenth century.Mill took many elements of his version of utilitarianism fromáJeremy Bentham, the great nineteenth-century legal reformer, who along witháWilliam Paleyáwere the two most influential English utilitarians prior to Mill. Like Bentham, Mill believed that happiness (or pleasure, which both Bentham and Mill equated with happiness) was the only thing humans do and should desire for its own sake. Since happiness is the only intrinsic good, and since more happiness is preferable to less, the goal of the ethical life is to maximize happiness. This is what Bentham and Mill call 'the principle of utility' or 'the greatest-happiness principle.' Both Bentham and Mill thus endorse 'classical' or 'hedonistic' forms of utilitarianism. More recent utilitarians often deny that happiness is the sole intrinsic good, arguing that a variety of values and consequences should be considered in ethical decision making.[4]Although Mill agreed with Bentham about many of the foundational principles of ethics, he also had some major disagreements. In particular, Mill tried to develop a more refined form of utilitarianism that would harmonize better with ordinary morality and highlight the importance in the ethical life of intellectual pleasures, self-development, high ideals of character, and conventional moral rules.