An Analysis Of John Stuart Mills's Essay 'Utilitarianism'

John Stuart Mills promotes a moral theory in his essay titled, ‘Utilitarianism,’ by stating the best choice of action to take, when there are multiple options to choose from, is the action that produces the highest overall sum of happiness within a society. By applying this theory to the domain of war, one might instantly believe war is always the morally wrong choice. Utilitarianism focuses on the actual consequences of an action, and war brings about death, suffering, and multiple other negative consequences. Therefore, just by utilitarianism war would be considered morally wrong. However, by applying the theory of “Just War”, a doctrine that is used to ensure war becomes a morally right choice, one may assume the majority population is happy with the decision of going to war. Based on utilitarianism, starting a war is now considered morally right since the overall utility of a society increases with the decision to go to war, only when all of the requirements of just war are fulfilled (i.e. there is a high probability of success, it’s a just cause, and the decision was made as a last resort). By combining multiple theories and doctrines to various scenarios it is possible to justify almost anything. The choice of an action might in itself be considered morally right, but
The purpose of these rules are to maximize the quality of utility within a society, or overall happiness. The first level of rules cover a very basic concept; one should not complete a certain action. The second level of rules only apply when two rules contradict each other; it’s okay to complete this action only because the consequences of this action is worse. The third, most important, level is considered by most as hedonic calculus. Hedonic calculus is supposed to measure the overall level of happiness within a society that come from an action's consequences through certain variables in an