In this excerpt John Stuart Mill provides his views of utilitarianism. John Stuart Mill’s definition of
utilitarianism have some vital traits. He defines that the presence of pleasure and the lack of pain, are the
basis of the whole thing that people wish. As per the opinion of John Stuart Mill, utilitarianism is the
foundation of morality. However, it does not mean that it is ethical for individuals to chase only what
creates happiness for them. Relatively, ethics is uttered by the greatest happiness principle. Ethical doings
are those which rise the overall sum of utility in the all God's creatures. John Stuart is behind the idea that
hunting for individual’s happiness at the cost of nation’s or community’s happiness is not ethical.
In opening of this reading, Mill tries to answer the false impression about utilitarianism, by defining the
theory. Mill noticed that several people misinterpret utilitarianism and consider utility as the opponent of
pleasure. However, in truth, utility can be defined itself as the presence of pleasure, and absence of the
pain. His definition of utilitarianism holds that “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote
happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.” So, in this scenario happiness and the
lack of pain, are the effects wanted at the end, and this is the only thing intrinsically "good." Therefore,
any other context, happening, or practice is desired only if it is a basis for such pleasure. Mill clarifies that
actions are good if we gain happiness at the end, and are bad if we get pain in the end.
Mill clarifies the assertion which is based to decrease the significance of aptitude and pleasure to human
life. He states that pleasures are much loftier to individual’s life, that the minute individuals will awake
about their higher aptitudes; they will not be glad to leave them fulfilled. I am agreed with Mill, that
pleasure is an indication that we are enjoying our higher talents. It is correct that some happiness may be
of low quality; but it does not justify that all pleasures are of low quality. Some pleasures are more loved
than others. At the time of moral judgment about an action, utilitarianism not only considers the quantity
of pleasure, but also considers the quality of the pleasures individual or society found from that action.
In this excerpt, Mill also outlines the way to distinguish higher quality and lower quality of the pleasures.
Mill states that quality of a pleasure is higher if people would like to pick it over another pleasure even if
it comes with some pain. A pleasure is of low quality, if people would not prefer it to get with some pain.
Mill also represented an unquestionable fact that if people are given access to a given set of pleasures,
people will select the pleasure which best suites to their aptitude. A human being would not like to
become a whale fish, but a small fish would like to be a whale.
