1. VAGUENESS. In other words what exactly does Mill mean when he uses the word Harm? It’s notable that no definition of ’Harm’ is to be found in‚ On Liberty‚ granted Mill gives us some exemptions‚ but no more than that and accordingly Mill’s use of the word ’Harm’ is often considered imprecise. It’s this very lack preciseness (vagueness) that prompts us to wonder if there could be a point at which acts of offence become acts of Harm. Without an adequate definition of Harm it becomes difficult to
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John Stuart Mill’s notion of “higher pleasures” addresses the second objection to utilitarianism - that it reduces all values to a single scale (Sandel‚ 2009‚ p. 52). In the book it was mentioned that Mill tries to show utilitarians that they can distinguish higher pleasures from lower ones. Mill talks about how the higher pleasures are those that produce stronger and longer pleasures (Sandel‚ 2009
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From John Stuart Mill’s perspective‚ Mill can perceive this controversy in a few ways‚ but for the sake of this argument‚ we will focus on his main idea of liberalism to further critique Harper’s assertions. Mill’s principle of liberalism can be seen with dealings of society as the sole end for which mankind is authorized‚ as individuals and collectively‚ to not interfere with the liberty of action of their fellow citizens‚ and to subject themselves to the law in order for this protections‚ which
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they promote human (or perhaps sentient) happiness. This claim Mill shares with his forbears. But he modified their assumptions about human motivation‚ the nature of happiness‚ the relationship between happiness
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Introduction to “The Geography of Bliss” When it comes to the topic of happiness‚ most of us will readily agree that it is a very important aspect of life. Where this agreement usually ends‚ however‚ is on the question of understanding what makes people happy in life. Whereas some are convinced happiness comes with money‚ other maintain that happiness comes when people have a good relationship with each other. In 2008 Eric Weiner published the book The Geography of Bliss‚ One Grump’s Search for
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In the chapter John Stuart Mill provides an argument that utilitarianism should answer before it can be valid. One of those criteria is happiness and in fact the only one‚ and in order to prove this‚ one must prove that happiness is the only thing people desire. Mill then goes on in an attempt to prove this and takes into account many arguments‚ but then disregards them by saying the ultimate end goal of those arguments is happiness‚ or at least the root of them were‚ and it makes sense. It makes
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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
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English philosopher‚ John Stuart Mill’s‚ introduced the ethical views of Utilitarianism‚ stating that whatever maximizes happiness for the greatest number of people is consider to be the greatest good. According to Utilitarianism‚ an action is morally right if it promotes happiness and morally wrong if it promotes pain. Utilitarianism is an attempt to answer the question “What should we do?” and its answer is that we ought to act in a way that the consequence produce happiness. What I think Utilitarianism
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The Discourse of Mill and Nietzsche‚ Can Mill Overcome While it appears‚ on the outside‚ that John Stewart Mill contradicts Nietzsche’s idea that the mind serves deeper than our inner human drive‚ however‚ the story of Mills life seems to actually confirm itself. You see‚ Nietzsche believes that your instincts define who you are and if you go through life using your brain making all your decisions for you‚ you aren’t being true to who you really are. Nietzsche talked about how Socrates uses reason
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John Stuart Mill’s explanation of the harm principle is not as useful as once believed. Although the harm principle does in fact have some logic‚ it fails to set clear and concise borders regarding what denotes allowable hate speech. The harm principle essentially states that all speech‚ including hate speech‚ should be allowed. However‚ speech that causes a definable harm must be censored. For example‚ merely offensive speech is allowed; however‚ the context of the offensive speech in question is
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