Mill Utilitarianism:

• Numbers express the degrees of good or bad tendency of an act toward an individual. If the balance leans toward pleasure, the tendency is generally good; if toward pain, generally bad.
• This process is not expected before every moral judgment but should be kept in mind.
• The process applies to pleasure and pain in any form, like good, profit, convenience, advantage, benefit, emolument, happiness, evil, mischief, inconvenience, disadvantage, loss, and unhappiness.

Key Term

• Principle of Utility: A key term that is mentioned in the passage.

John Stuart Mill

• John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) was a leading exponent of utilitarianism and empiricist philosophy.
• Mill's works include A System of Logic, Examination of Sir William Hamilton's Philosophy, Principles of Political Economy, and On Liberty.

Chapter 1 General Remarks

• There is little progress in deciding on the criterion of right and wrong, or the foundation of morality.
• Mill attempts to contribute to the understanding and appreciation of the Utilitarian or Happiness theory.
• Proving ultimate ends is not possible but can be determined by rational grounds.
• Understanding the utilitarian formula is crucial for its acceptance or rejection.

Chapter 2 What Utilitarianism Is

• The foundation of morals is Utility, known as the Greatest Happiness Principle.
• Actions are right if they promote happiness and wrong if they produce unhappiness.
• Happiness means pleasure and the absence of pain. Unhappiness is pain and the lack of pleasure.
• Pleasure and freedom from pain are desirable as ends. All desirable things are desired for inherent pleasure or as means to promote pleasure and prevent pain.
• Mental pleasures are superior to bodily ones. Utilitarians have proven this with greater permanency, safety, and uncostliness.
• Some pleasures are more desirable and valuable than others, depending on the quality and quantity.
• The preference is given to pleasures that are more desirable than another.
• Those acquainted with both experiences prefer using higher faculties, even with discontent.
• People would rather be a human than an animal, or be wise rather than ignorant.
• Higher beings require more to be happy but wouldn't choose a lower existence.
• People may pursue lesser good due to infirmity. Capacity for higher feelings can be lost if not sustained.
• The judgment of competent judges are what makes a pleasure worth having.
• The ultimate end is an existence exempt from pain, rich in enjoyments in both quantity and quality.
• The test of quality is from those with experience, self-consciousness, and comparison.

Utilitarianism

• The standard of morality can be defined as rules for human conduct.
• The rules of conduct can secure an existence to all mankind to the greatest extent possible.
• Utilitarianism is not the agent's own greatest happiness, but the happiness of all concerned and requires impartiality.
• One should love their neighbor as yourself, in utilitarian morality.
• Laws and social arrangements should harmonize individual and collective interests.
• Society should establish an indissoluble association between individual happiness and general good.
• The objectors to utilitarianism cannot always be charged with misrepresenting its light.

This excerpt discusses the principle of utility, where actions are judged by their tendency to promote happiness or prevent pain. It emphasizes the importance of considering pleasure and pain in various forms when evaluating the moral implications of an act.