Mill's Utilitarianism Flashcards
What was Mill’s view on Bentham’s idea of utilitarianism?
He liked it but recognised it had some problems
What problems did Mill identify?
Sadist problem
Swine philosophy
All pleasures are not equal
Explain the sadist problem
One person’s pleasure is another’s pain
Because Bentham’s theory is all about maximising pleasure it would allow the attack of one person by a group
The pain experienced by that one person would be outweighed by the pleasure of the group
Mill argued that it was the quality of the pleasure that should count and not the quantity
Explain ‘swine philosophy’
Mill thought that Bentham had turned us all into pigs and created a ‘swine philosophy’
This suggested that humans, like pigs, were only interested in sex, eating and sleeping.
Mill though humans were capable of so much more and pleasures should be higher intellectual ones.
Explain why all pleasures are not equal
Bentham’s idea makes all pleasures equal
Mill argued that there are high pleasures which are of the mind (such as reading and creating music) are worth more than lower pleasures of the body (such as drinking and eating)
Mill thought that higher pleasures led to human progress
What did Mill say?
“It is better to be a human dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a human satisfied”
What does the quote mean?
That is is better to be a human than a pig but even better to be a philosopher than a human.
Mill didn’t want us to settle for simple pleasures like pig. He thought we should strive for better and higher pleasures
Who was Mill influenced by?
Bentham and Christianity
What did he believe?
That happiness and pleasure should be about benefiting society as a whole. Something could only be the greatest good for the greatest number if it actually helped people.
What quote did Mill draw inspiration from?
“Love you neighbour as yourself” - Mark 12:31
What type of utilitarian was Mill?
A rule utilitarian - instead of always using the hedonic calculus he formulated general rules based upon benefiting society.
