A consideration of whether John Mill's version of utilitarianism is compatible with consequentialism.
Written in 2004; 1,267 words; 5 sources; MLA; $ 42.95
Paper Summary:
This paper examines how John Mill's utilitarianism is based on the greatest happiness principle - that an action is right (and indeed morally right) in so far as it promotes happiness and wrong in so far as it promotes unhappiness. It looks at how Mill believes that there are different degrees of rightness and wrongness, depending on the amount of happiness or unhappiness generated. It also explores how consequentialism is the view that the value of an action derives entirely from the value of its consequences and that its value cannot be intrinsic or be altered by the kind of character whose action it is. It evaluates whether it follows that Mill's Utilitarianism then must be seen as a form of consequentialism.
From the Paper:
"The question of equality is also important. Given the choice between making one person extremely happy and another nine people neither happy nor unhappy or making each of the ten people moderately happy, which is better? According to the utilitarian principle, the better action would be the one that maximises overall happiness, assuming that the application of fairness will have no other effects on utility in general. If the two situations produce the same overall happiness however, utilitarianism does not distinguish between which is better of the two. One can argue that this decision will not have to be made that often, as the diminishing law of returns will mean that reducing the happiness of one such person by a small amount will allow one to increase the happiness of the others by a proportionally greater amount, however the situation may still arise in certain discrete circumstances and unless guided by other notions of morality, the utilitarian will not be placed to make such a judgement."
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