John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism

Criterion of right and wrong
Pleasures and pain contribute in determining the classification of one’s actions. In Mill’s Utilitarianism, he examines what determines an action to be considered right or wrong, his own version of the hedonistic utilitarianism argument. He claims that these qualities, including the quantity, are an important factor in determining, when included in the consequences, the criteria of an action. The consequences are significant in determining the results of one’s actions. In the argument of utilitarianism, if the consequences of an action are good, benefiting the population, then they are considered good. On the other hand, if the actions have negative consequences, then they are considered bad. The consequences …show more content…
By following these rules, mill explains that the cosnequences will cause pleasure instead of pain, long term pleasure for the person although it may be short term pain currently, and the actions will be considered good, in the eyes of both the group and the individual. However, in the same way that following them is considered good, breaking them in that way is considered bad. For example, if the individual had a rule of completing all his homework before relaxing with his friends, but broke that rule, it would be considered bad afterwards, because the homework would sit there, without being completed. When it is finally time for the student to turn the homework in, having not done it before, the student would have to rush and make mistakes, or he would get a failing grade. In this way, rule utilitarianism works similarly to the utilitarianism accompanied with the qualities of pleasure and pain. Duty utilitarianism is similar to rule utilitarianism, only instead of following rules set by the individual or the group, the factor for determining if an action is right or wrong is set by the individual. The morals and wellbeing of the individual become …show more content…
In Mill’s Utilitarianism, he examines what determines an action to be considered right or wrong, his own version of the hedonistic utilitarianism argument. He claims that these qualities, including the quantity, are an important factor in determining, when included in the consequences, the criteria of an action. The consequences of ones actions are an important element in society, one that is based on cause and effect. When an action is committed, it is important for an individual to consider what the consequences will be, regardless of the motives, because when the action has gone through, the consequences will be held in th spotlight by society, regardless of the motives of the