Books with title UTILITARIANISM

Utilitarianism, by John Stuart Mill, is an essay written to provide support for the value of utilitarianism as a moral theory, and to respond to misconceptions about it. Mill defines utilitarianism as a theory based on the principle that "actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness." Mill defines happiness as pleasure and the absence of pain. He argues that pleasure can differ in quality and quantity, and that pleasures that are rooted in one's higher faculties should be weighted more heavily than baser pleasures. Furthermore, Mill argues that people's achievement of goals and ends, such as virtuous living, should be counted as part of their happiness.

The philosophy of utilitarianism can trace its origins back thousands of years to the ancient Chinese philosophy of logic attributed to the Mohist School. Today it is most famously associated with the 18th century English philosopher Jeremy Bentham, and his disciple John Stuart Mill. The basic principle of utilitarianism is that one’s actions should be guided towards outcomes that create the greatest good for the greatest numbers of people, or in other words towards the maximization of utility, or happiness. This simple guiding principle creates a host of challenging moral dilemmas. Arguably one of the most important political thinkers of the modern era, John Stuart’s Mill’s influence on Western civilization cannot be overstated. In his classic exposition “Utilitarianism”, first published as a series of three articles in “Fraser’s Magazine” in 1861, we are provided great insight into John Stuart Mill’s philosophical world view. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.