The Theory of Utilitarianism was first
thought of by Jeremy Bentham and James Mill, John Stuart Mill's father. The
basic idea is what's best for society and the individual, produces the best
outcome. For instance, murder would be considered morally wrong because people
not being killed in society is a better outcome then people being murdered.
From an individual’s perspective, watching their favorite show on the couch
produces the most happiness as opposed to going for a long run. Their
happiness is simply defined as what produces the most pleasure over pain.
John believed that what was best for the society and the individual was
whatever made them happy as long as it did not harm anyone else. For example the
government should not intervene in an alcoholic’s life so long as they do not
pose a problem to society. As for an individual's view, the alcoholic
could only be an alcoholic if s/he only affected him or herself in the process.
This is what John calls the harm principle. In simple terms the harm principle states
that you can do as you please so long as you do not harm anyone in the
process. This goes for emotional and
physical harm. Also in John's view happiness is more complex. In
his view happiness has two levels, a higher and lower pleasures. Higher level
pleasures are much more desirable to humans then the lower level.
As mentioned in my last
post, James is who educated John. So being that James was a utilitarian
he taught John with his own views. However James taught John socraticly,
meaning that John did not memorize his father’s teachings, he questioned them
and formulated his own ideas.
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