Mill's Utilitarianism Analysis
Mill’s objection to Bentham’s utilitarianism, “…no better object of desire and pursuit than pleasure is a doctrine worthy only of swine.” He is basically arguing that Utilitarianism is an ideology that focuses all its efforts on creating the most amount of happiness and pleasure. This unfortunately can lead to a problem. In Utilitarianism, Mill argues if we try to live our lives in a way that is free of pain and full of pleasure, we forget that life is full of discomfort and that it is how it’s supposed to be. Living day to day as a Utilitarian will quickly become exhausting, “…better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied…”. People must have intellectual or physical pursuits that give them joy. Everyone has things that they do
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An example could be, a dream job. The very act of doing that dream job gives that worker joy. Another example could be a painter making a work of art. He loves his craft and looks forward to it every time he wakes up. His passion is what gives him pleasure., “…Someone might reasonably hold that some things are worth striving for, enhance the life of the person who gets those things, even though they do not involve experience at all, pleasurable or otherwise.” He is postulating that pleasure also be derived from hard work and success. When people have dreams, and can make them a reality, many individuals love when they achieve and thus are fulfilled. Mill agrees, he feels that Bentham is correct but not very specific. He believes that there are other characters in this play of pleasure. Mill proposes that there are high pleasures and low pleasures. High pleasures are doing jobs that fulfill you as a human being. Low pleasures are feeding our animalistic desires, like having sex. In life, high and low pleasures are everywhere. We as people must decide which fulfills us
An example could be, a dream job. The very act of doing that dream job gives that worker joy. Another example could be a painter making a work of art. He loves his craft and looks forward to it every time he wakes up. His passion is what gives him pleasure., “…Someone might reasonably hold that some things are worth striving for, enhance the life of the person who gets those things, even though they do not involve experience at all, pleasurable or otherwise.” He is postulating that pleasure also be derived from hard work and success. When people have dreams, and can make them a reality, many individuals love when they achieve and thus are fulfilled. Mill agrees, he feels that Bentham is correct but not very specific. He believes that there are other characters in this play of pleasure. Mill proposes that there are high pleasures and low pleasures. High pleasures are doing jobs that fulfill you as a human being. Low pleasures are feeding our animalistic desires, like having sex. In life, high and low pleasures are everywhere. We as people must decide which fulfills us