John Mill’s Utilitarianism Essay
Johns Mill’s utilitarianism theory provides a solution to an ethical dilemma that many people experience when making ethical decisions and justifications. The issue of ethics is a hotly debated topic among scholars and philosopher. Past philosophers have developed several theories to explain the concept of morality. All these theories try to explain is morally right or wrong in society. Some moral theories are practical when making ethical decisions in real life situations. Others are limited in terms of practicability due to their ambiguity. Utilitarianism is one of the most powerful and persuasive moral theories of the 19th century. John Stuart Mills was a prominent philosopher from Britain who made a great contribution to social theory, political philosophy, and ethics, among other fields of the study (Brink, 1). Mill’s utilitarianism, moral theory, is popular in academics. This has made the theory to receive praises and criticism in equal measure. This term paper discusses Mills, utilitarianism theory, its application in real life situation and justification.
Morality from Mill’s Perspective
Mill coined a moral theory called utilitarianism to explain what is ethically right and wrong in society. According, to Mill, means justified the end as long as the outcome will optimize happiness to the greatest number of people (Mill, 66). Mill argued that it is morally right to do something that will hurt a few people as long as it will make a large number of people happy (Brink, 1). His theory gained popularity in the 19th century because it helped to resolve ethical dilemmas. Mill’s utilitarianism states that actions that promote happiness are ethically right and those that promote sadness are ethically wrong. Proponents of this theory should focus on actions that maximize the happiness of the majority when stuck in an ethical dilemma. Mill went ahead to explain the meaning of happiness as pleasure and its absence as pain. For instance, when people achieve their goals and objectives in life, achievement qualifies as part of their happiness (Brink, 1). On the other hand, when people fail to achieve their goals and objectives, the failure qualifies as the opposite of happiness. Mill argued that happiness varies from one person to another, depending on their expectations in life (Jacobson, 4). One’s happiness could be another’s pain and vice versa. However, there is no distinct difference in happiness. What matters is whether a small or large number of people are happy.
Mill argued that utilitarianism was a superior moral theory because it coincides with expectations of humans’ social nature. This means that people are likely to internalize utilitarianism in their moral standards. Thus, it will be easy to make ethical decisions in society, even on weighty matters. According to Mill, the main goal of morality is to cause happiness among people and reduce pain or sadness (Mill, 78). The dilemma is that it is not possible to make people happy at the same time because one’s happiness could be another person’s pain. Utilitarianism aims at fulfilling the goal of morality/ethics by ensuring that more people are happy and a few are unhappy. According to Mill, people desire nothing but happiness. Therefore, most ethical actions are those that make a large number of people happy, if not everyone. From utilitarianism perspective, it is ethically acceptable to do something bad as long as the outcome will make the majority happy (Brink, 1). More so, hurting a few people in the quest to make a large number of people happy is morally justifiable. For instance, it is morally right, from a utilitarian perspective, to tell a lie as wrong as it will make a large number of people happy. Similarly, it is right for a military commander to sacrifice a small number of soldiers to save a large number of soldiers when cornered by an enemy in the event of war.
Criticism of Utilitarianism
Although Mill’s utilitarianism is popular in academics as one of the most practical moral theory, some critics are not comfortable with it. Opponents of the theory argue that it does not protect individual rights adequately. Critics hold that the theory promotes the happiness of the majority at the expense of the minority. This is wrong because no humans are lesser than others are and no happiness is more superior. Although Mill argued that happiness is the same in all people, his theory disregards that of minorities and focuses on that of the majority. This is wrong because morality demands that individual rights should be upheld at times “Mill is aiming to defend the common creed of utilitarianism” (Jacobson, 4). Therefore, actions that cause one or a large number of people are ethically wrong. Critics of utilitarianism also happiness is a complex element that is not measured by the same standards. They argue that it was wrong for Mill to generalize the concept of happiness as being the same in all people. Some actions cause more intense happiness, and people get different levels of happiness from the same actions.
Analysis of Utilitarianism and Personal Opinion
Mill’s Utilitarianism theory is practical when it comes to resolving an ethical dilemma. According to Mill, the main goal of morality is to cause happiness among people and reduce pain or sadness. The dilemma is that it is not possible to make people happy at the same time because one’s happiness could be another person’s pain. Utilitarianism aims at fulfilling the goal of morality/ethics by ensuring that more people are happy and a few are unhappy. The theory makes it easy to address ethical to make decisions in real life situations. It is impossible to make everyone happy in real life situations because people have varying expectations in life. Actions that make a certain group of people happy could be the cause of pain and sadness to other people (Mill, 46). However, making decisions in life is inevitable irrespective of whether the person making choices in an ethical dilemma or not. The most prudent thing to do is decisions and act in a manner that a large number of people will be happy. It is understandable for a person to make a few people unhappy and the quest to make the majority happy. However, people have a moral responsibility.
According to Mill, the main goal of morality is to cause happiness among people and reduce pain or sadness (Mill, 66). The dilemma is that it is not possible to make people happy at the same time because one’s happiness could be another person’s pain. Utilitarianism aims at fulfilling the goal of morality/ethics by ensuring that more people are happy and a few are unhappy. According to Mill, people desire nothing but happiness. Therefore, most ethical actions are those that make a large number of people happy, if not everyone. From utilitarianism perspective, it is ethically acceptable to do something bad as long as the outcome will make the majority happy. It could be worse to fail to make choices that can cause happiness the majority because of the fear to hurt the minority.
Although critics of utilitarianism argue Utilitarianism has numerous gaps in its application, the theory is still valid. First, critics did not provide solutions or alternatives to Mills moral theory. Secondly, there must be a way of resolving ethical dilemmas in society because it is impossible to make everyone happy. Although human rights should be upheld in all aspects of life, sometimes it becomes necessary to consider actions that will have more good than evil. For instance, in a situation where a school bus driver finds a blind person closing the road on a sharp corner. It is good for the bus driver to try to avoid knocking the blind person closing the road. However, it is understandable if the driver hits the blind person and save the lives of children in the bus. However, this does not mean that the driver would have intentionally violated the right of the blind person to be alive.
Conclusion
It is evident from the study that Johns Mill’s utilitarianism theory provides a solution to an ethical dilemma that many people experience when making ethical decisions and justifications. Mill coined a moral theory called utilitarianism to explain what is ethically right and wrong in society. According, to Mill, means justified the end as long as the outcome will optimize happiness to the greatest number of people. The main goal of morality is to cause happiness among people and reduce pain or sadness. The dilemma is that it is not possible to make people happy at the same time because one’s happiness could be another person’s pain. However, Mill was able to find a practical solution to a moral dilemma by coining the utilitarianism theory. The theory has more advantages than disadvantages. Therefore, it is applicable when addressing ethical dilemmas in real life situations.
Works Cited
Brink, David, “Mill’s Moral and Political Philosophy”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (Winter 2018 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.). Retrieved on 7th March 2019 from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mill-moral-political/
Jacobson, Daniel. J. S. Mill and the Diversity of Utilitarianism. Philosophers’ Imprint. Volume 3, No. 2. June 2003
Mill, John, Stuart. Utilitarianism. Coventry House Publishing, Print. 2017
