Utilitarianism therefore creates a case-by-case approach to utility calculations, commonly known as act-utilitarianism. Accordingly, all desirable objects or concepts are desirable based on the intrinsic pleasure they provide, or because they promote overall pleasure and reduce overall pain. Mill believes that the pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain are the only motives in human behavior. Mill’s (1993: 7) utilitarianism is a system of ethics according to which ‘actions are right in proportion as they tend to produce happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness’. This view is best justified through a reconciliationist approach, put forward by Berger (1984), as it allows for both direct and indirect utilitarian calculations, but also leaves space for objections. After presenting the liberty principle and utilitarianism, and explaining the two tensions I examine between them, I will show the necessity of the liberty principle based on Mill’s distinction of higher and lower pleasures. In this essay, I aim to show that Mill’s liberty principle is necessary for his utilitarianism to function and promote the good life. Scholarly debate has provided a multiplicity of views on whether the principles of liberty and utility are compatible with each other, rendering Mill a consistent philosophy. He argues for the establishment of individual liberty while promoting the principle of utility as the ‘ultimate appeal on all ethical questions’ (Mill 1993: 79). Mill’s highly influential texts have established him as a figure of liberal utilitarianism.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |