LO: to know about Mill’s approach to
Utilitarianism
HMK: Can you come up with an ethical
situation and outline where Bentham
and Mill would disagree on the correct
course of action?
 What
did you find?
 All
types of pleasure and pain can be
measured on the same scale
 Pleasures can be compared quantitatively
because there is no difference between them
 Bentham once said that “quantity of pleasure
being equal, push-pin (a simple child’s game)
is as good as poetry.”
 What is good and bad for each person is a
matter for each person to decide by
following the hedonic calculus
 Democratic
Egalitarian (classless)
 “Everybody is to count for one, and nobody
for more than one.”
 “No one person’s pleasure is greater than
another's.”
 In keeping with the enlightenment thinking
the Hedonic Calculus was a rational and
scientific way to measure pleasure. Bentham
claimed that goodness could be empirically
(through experience) proven.
Can you think of some issues with this?
 Too
simplistic – pleasure is not the only value
 Too complicated – How do you measure
pleasure? There are too many variables
involved. It is difficult to assign a score.
 Based on this philosophy, a pig enjoying his
life would constitute a higher moral state
than a slightly dissatisfied Socrates.

This activity is designed to develop your ability to peer-teach

You will be ‘equipped-to-hit’ with a handout, to teach your partner more
about Utilitarianism. (Yes those in the orange group have a heavier load!)

Your partner will have something different to you, so you will both have
something to learn from each other!
Questions to ask:
1. How did Bentham and Mill agree with
each other?
Question to ask:
2. Which aspect of Bentham’s theory
did Mill take issue with?
3. How did Mill develop the theory?
4. How are pleasure and happiness
different? Can you give an example?
1. How did Aristotle influence Mill?
2. What did Mill say about Higher
and Lower pleasures?
 Mill
agreed with Bentham in emphasizing
that a persons’ well being is of the utmost
importance.
 Mill agreed with the utility principle but had
an issue with the quantitative element.
 Mill developed a system of higher and lower
pleasures.
 To pursue pleasures of the intellect were
‘higher’ than, say, the pursuits of pleasures
of the body.
 Mill
wanted to reformulate the utilitarian
theory to reflect the fact that pleasures are
not all of equal value.
 He also wanted to take human nature into
account.
 Pleasure
is not the same as happiness!
 There are two main differences between
pleasure and happiness
 PLEASURE  Gratification  PLEASURE
pursued as an end in its own right
 HAPPINESS  Satisfaction  HAPPINESS, an
indirect by-product of another activity
 …A
divorced, wealthy, young man may seek
pleasure from drugs, alcohol and an active
sex life with many partners, but lack the
happiness of true friendship and the love of
his family
 Mill’s
utilitarianism has been referred to as
being eudaimonistic (human well being)
utilitarianism, as opposed to Bentham’s
hedonistic (pleasure) utilitarianism.
 Eudaimonia is found in the writings of
Aristotle
 Aristotle
distinguished between pleasure and
happiness
 For Mill the difference in happiness over
pleasure is significant; happiness having a
higher qualitative edge over the quantity of
lower bestial (base) pleasures
 Mill
defines utilitarianism as…“The creed
which accepts as the foundation of morals,
Utilitarianism, or the greatest happiness
principle, holds that actions are right in
proportion as they tend to promote
happiness, wrong as they tend to produce
the reverse of happiness. By happiness is
intended pleasure and absence of pain: by
unhappiness pain and privation of pleasure.”
Utilitarianism Chapter 2
 “It
is better to be a human being dissatisfied
than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates
dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.”
Mill, 1863, Chapter 2
 Mill
maintained that pleasures of the mind
were higher than those of the body.
 To pursue bodily pleasures – food, drink,
drugs and sex – was not as high an objective
as those that are intellectually demanding.
Are bodily pleasures lower than intellectual
pleasures?

On your own, arrange the following from higher
to lower quality:

eating, listening to music, making music, drinking
alcohol, watching a good movie, viewing beautiful
artwork, spending time with your partner, spending
time with your friends, attending family gatherings,
eating chocolate, reading or hearing poetry, playing
sport, achieving fame.
 How
do we distinguish between two higher
pleasures? How could the pleasures to be
gained from playing Bach be measured
against the pleasures to be gained from
seeing a Shakespearian play? Give examples
if you can.
 Is it better to be intellectually aware of the
world’s imperfections and the sufferings of
people and, hence, be unhappy or
dissatisfied, or is it better to be blissfully
ignorant of the world’s troubles and, hence,
be happy and content with life?

Can you produce a final report of your notes outlining all of the questions
below!
1. How did Bentham and Mill agree with each other?
2. Which aspect of Bentham’s theory did Mill take issue with?
3. How did Mill develop the theory?
4. How are pleasure and happiness different? Can you give an
example?
5. How did Aristotle influence Mill?
6. What did Mill say about Higher and Lower pleasures?