Mill Utilitarianism

Classical economists analyzed the nature of value primarily on the labor theory. Without a clear grasp of the concept of demand, Smith, Malthus and Ricardo often raise confusing and self-contradictory explanations of the definition of “value.” The utilitarianists, like Jeremy Bentham and J. S. Mill, offered a revolutionary approach to understand the demand-side of the economy. They consider the usefulness of the product as a whole rather than its process of production. In the development of the utilitarianism, reformists present a much more realistic, practical and comprehensive discussion of the nature of the economy: the necessity of comparative utilities, the concern about the distribution and quality of the utility, the key social influence
He states that growth should satisfy the utilitarian principles. Here, Mill distinguishes the individual utility and social utility, defining social utility as an ultimate guard of justice in the society. However, he continues to favor that choices are essentially individually based and it should be the individual utility that governs the economic flows. Hunt, with greater reforming spirit, seriously opposes the individualistic nature of utility and choice-making calculus. He writes that the individualistic approach not only keeps utility as an practically immeasurable, subjective existence, but also ignores the fact that individual choices are, to a large extent, socially informed. Because the utility is subjective and personally oriented, desire and pleasure are indistinguishable, and the consequence of wealth redistribution is incalculable as the losses and gains of groups may be unknown. The group’s interests, meanwhile, reflect the social influence of making a personal decision. Hunt’s observation expanded upon Mill’s allusion to the personal experience. The choices are somehow restrictive to the available resources in a bounded environment and the direction that a society is taking. Therefore, Hunt recognizes the influential social impact of individual choices while deeming the individualistic and subjective measure of utility useless and conflicting. He takes
However, such a simplistic route, taken especially by Bentham, overlooks other vital aspects of economic activities. The possibility of a comparative measurement of utility, along with the social, rather than individual, influence on making choices, is debated by reformists. Additions and reassessments of ideas contribute to the formation of an early egalitarian spirit within the utilitarian framework, making the economic analysis more humanistic, realistic and