Research Paper On John Stuart Mill

John Stuart Mill was an influential English philosopher known for his theories and philosophical views. One of his popular works is Utilitarianism, which were at first articles that were then put together into a book. Utilitarianism is a response to critics who put down Mill’s moral theory of utilitarianism and it also expands the theory further. Mill defines utilitarianism as a theory based on the idea that, “…actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse happiness.” He defines happiness and discuses it in great detail. He continues by discussing the principle of utility and the its connection with justice. Mill’s first couple of chapters introduce his ideas and topics for the
rest of the writing. In the first chapter he argues that a standard must be established for judging moral rights and wrongs. This cannot be done without figuring out on what standard to judge human actions. He questions whether moral instinct would eliminate having to find establish a standard for judging morals. The answer is that it would not because moral instinct would only supply general principles instead of specific ones. Mill then says that there is an unestablished standard for morality and it is the principle of utility. This principle is also known as the greatest happiness principle. He ends this first chapter by discussing that he will prove utilitarianism as a theory. Since most do not seem to understand it he will provide a more clear explanation of the theory.