John Stuart Mill's Refinements to Utilitarianism

This page discusses John Stuart Mill's contributions to utilitarianism, addressing some of the weaknesses he identified in Bentham's theory.

Mill, like Bentham, was a hedonist but sought to resolve several problems he saw in Bentham's approach:

1. Bentham's theory did not distinguish between different types of pleasures or rank them.
2. It failed to adequately address the concerns of minorities.
3. The emphasis on pleasure seemed to reduce human motivation to mere animal instincts.

Quote: "It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied."

Mill introduced the concept of higher and lower pleasures:

• Lower pleasures: Basic pleasures shared with animals, such as food, sleep, and sex.
• Higher pleasures: Intellectual and moral pleasures that stimulate the mind and can only be experienced by humans.

Highlight: Mill argued that the quality of pleasure is as important as its quantity, challenging Bentham's more quantitative approach.

Mill recognized that people don't always choose higher pleasures, attributing this to ignorance. He introduced the idea of a "competent judge" - someone who has experienced both higher and lower pleasures and can help define the amount of pain or pleasure an action causes.

Vocabulary: A competent judge, in Mill's theory, is an individual with the experience and wisdom to evaluate the quality of different pleasures.

This refinement of utilitarianism aimed to address criticisms of Bentham's theory as being too simplistic or animalistic, elevating the importance of intellectual and moral satisfactions in the calculation of overall happiness.