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Question: John Mills !.!.!.Utilitinarianism essay!?
I have a paper to write for my philosophy class and i need a little clarification and help if anyone can i would appreciate it!. The topic is Johnmill gives precise formulation of the highest principle against in "What is utilitarianism", explain his formulation and defense!.!.!.!. please if anyone can guide me to a direction to start!.!.!.thanks so muchWww@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Luckily for you, the basic idea behind utilitarianism is pretty straightforward!. It's an approach to ethics that suggests that the right thing to do is always the one that will provide the most satisfaction for the most people!. What, exactly, is satisfaction!? — Good question!. The original utilitarians defined it as pleasure!. Mill's contribution was to suggest that there are multiple kinds of pleasure, some of which are nobler than others — for instance, the good feelings that accompany reading poetry are better than those that accompany sex!.

Mill's defense of utilitarianism is notoriously sloppy!. In his writings on it, he declared that it wasn't really amenable to direct proof, but then went ahead and tried to prove it in an extremely imprecise way!. He said that happiness is the only thing that we do, in fact, desire!. Once he'd established that, he put forward a tangle of extremely questionable reasoning which concluded that happiness was the only thing which is desirable at all, and thus happiness and goodness are identical!.

Read his book on the subject, which, oddly enough, goes by the name Utilitarianism!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

As above, except Mill also structured his brand of utilitarianism on an elitist attitude which stated that happiness attained was dependent on the level of intellectualism present in the individual: ''better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied''!. He also took his ideas to the extreme, using them to justify hanging an innocent man as long as it intimidated others into behaving!. The same logic can be used to make actions such as poisoning the water supply with ecstasy seem logical and moral!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

He seeks that result which brings the greatest good to the greatest number!. This metric is practical and social!. It is rational and potential democratic!. It does not however help define what the greatest good is in each situation nor does it deal with irrational desire nor the problems of anticipating the effects of any action in advance!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I don't see how I can help you; you don't even know what you're looking for!. Start with Mill's essay!.Www@QuestionHome@Com