CHAPTER IV

UTILITARIANISM
JOHN STUART MILL
Introduction:

Human decisions always have consequences. Whenever one decides to do

something, one’s action other people in ways beyond ho one thought would.
Decisions continually affect the configuration and integrity of various forms of
human relationships because in deciding to do something, for instance, one actually
brings something new into the world that has never existed before. Decisions bring
forth new ideas, objects, and relationships into play in the realm of action and
thought.
Utilitarianism

 Is a moral theory that tries to grapple with those questions. Among the famous proponents
of this way of thinking, John Stuart Mill [1806-1873], is considered by many to be the
most influential. His utilitarian theory of morality is a development and clarification of
the earlier form of the theory authored by Jeremy Bentham [1748-1832] and espoused by
his father, James Mill [1773-1886]. James Mill homeschooled John Stuart on the
Benthamite doctrine, which essentially states that it is the greatest happiness of the
greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong. Happiness in this context is
understood as the predominance of pleasure over pain. John Stuart later on revises this
doctrine by highlighting a distinction between qualities and quantities of pleasures and
pains.
Mill’s moral theory is considered as the consequentialist in that it
judges the rightness and wrongness of actions based on their
consequences. As opposed to the deontological theories.

 Bentham’s Felicific/Hedonistic Calculus is a method/guide to balance the pros and cons of a proposed
course of action in relation to the balance of pleasures and pains it potentially produces. These are
some guide questions to measure it.

1. Intensity: How strong is the pleasure

2. Duration: How long does the pleasure last
3. Certainly or uncertainly: How likely or unlikely that the pleasure will occur
4. Propinquity or remoteness: How soon does the pleasure occur
5. Fecundity: What is the probability that the action is followed by sensations of the same kind
6. Purity: What is the probability that it is not followed by sensation of the opposite kind
7. Extent: How many people are affected