ExplainJ.S. Mills version of utilitarianism.

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Kirsty Densham

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Explain J.S. Mills version of utilitarianism.

Utilitarianism is sometimes referred to as the “theory of usefulness” after the Latin root word utilis meaning useful. David Hume, a Scottish Philosopher first introduced the idea of “utility” into ethics, but he is not considered to be a utilitarian. Utilitarianism is usually associated with the quote, “the greatest happiness for the greatest number.” this phrase was first coined by Francis Hutcheson in his book an inquiry into the original of our ideas of beauty and virtue, however he too is not  regarded as a utilitarian in the strict sense. Utilitarianism is a Teleogical ethical theory, this means it concentrates on the consequences of the actions and not the actions themselves.

Jeremy Bentham’s desires to improve social conditions of the masses lead him to articulate his theory of Utilitarianism. He thought “That which is good is that which equals the greatest sum of pleasure and the least sum of pain.” This is sometimes known as “hedonic utilitarianism” because he thought that humans hedonistic, pleasure seeking. This theory is democratic; pleasure cannot apply to one person alone. Bentham believed that you could measure pleasure and pain by using the Hedonic calculus. Bentham concentrated more on the maximisation of pleasure by the majority of people than on the quality of the pleasure experienced, he measure pleasure quantively and not qualitatively.

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Bentham’s theory of utilitarianism is normally referred to as Act Utilitarianism. Whereas when Mill expanded on Bentham’s theory his was called Rule Utilitarianism.

Mill expanded on Bentham’s theory by proposing that there is a positive place for rules within the utilitarian approach, this is why mill’s theory of utilitarianism is sometimes referred to as Rule Utilitarianism. He thought that the Hedonic calculus was too vague.

Mill tried to define pleasure more carefully, he agreed that pleasure is important but he also thought that the quality of the pleasure rather than the quantity of the pleasure is ...

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