Greatest Happiness Principle Analysis Philosophy Essay

Greatest Happiness Principle Analysis Philosophy showSome of the eighteenth century English deterrent exampleists, including Butler and Shaftesbury, stressed the artlessness of benevolence or of seeking the good of some others and of its place in the moral life and Hutcheson actually stated that the objective or material stamp out of good conduct is the greatest blessedness for the numbers, the phrase that came to be the proverb of English Utilitarianism. The great leaders of this school at its prosperous period, the initiation of the nineteenth century, were Bentham, James plodding, and his son, John Stuart grind. If these moralists had merely argued for a purely hedonic theory of ethics, maintaining that pleasure is the sole good, their theory might not make up met with such general acceptance.Attributed with the fundamentals of utilitarianism atomic number 18 Jeremy Bentham and afterward, John Stuart Mill. They be a lot referenced together however, to each one had o pposed viewpoints on more than a few aspects of the theory. Bentham was more basic in his image of utility, focusing on the primal human instincts of making the almost of pleasure and avoiding pain. He promoted a scheme called the hedonic calculus. In this method, adept could algebraically decide the in good order choice by setting the potential positive outcomes and negative consequences of an transaction against another.Bentham was comfortable equating the pleasure of a game of pushpin to that of study poetry Mill was choosier, articulating hierarchies of pleasures depending upon their scholarly value.Utilitarianism is based on two sets of premises, the postulational truths of egoistic hedonism on one side, and the principles of benevolence and equity on the other side. A mans dedication to the pursuit of general happiness is the best heart of achieving happiness for him so reconciliation between egoistic hedonism and utilitarianism maybe potential upon recognition that ano ther persons happiness is of identical value to ones profess.Mill believed that the most ethical action was that which brought the most muckle the greatest amount of happiness. Happiness, fit in to Mill, is pleasure and the absence of pain, and unhappiness is pain, and the privation of pleasure.The crux of mill ethical theory is his Greatest Happiness Principle, according to which actions argon right in proportion as they scarper to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. Every human being tries to promote his or her own happiness, and avoid unhappiness, which is natural rather than ethical however promoting happiness becomes an ethical theory when applied to all human beings, rather than mediocre individuals.Utility is defined as maximizing pleasure over pain, tally to Mill, human pleasures are much superior to animalistic ones once quite a little are made aware of their higher faculties, they will never be happy to leave them uncultivated thus happiness is a subscribe that we are exercising our higher faculties. It is true that some pleasures may be base however, this does not mean that all of them are rather, some are intrinsically more valuable than others. When making a moral brain on an action, utilitarianism thus takes into account not just the quantity, but to a fault the quality of the pleasures resulting from. A pleasure is of higher quality if deal would withdraw it over a different pleasure even if it is accompanied by discomfort, and if they would not trade it for a greater amount of the other pleasure. Moreover, Mill contends, it is an unquestionable fact that, given equal access to all kinds of pleasures, people will prefer those that appeal to their higher faculties.The people best serve to judge a pleasures quality are people who put one across see both the higher and the lower. Furthermore, Mill observed that even if the possession of a noble character brought less happiness to the individual, society would still benefit. Mill also argues that peoples achievement of goals and ends, such as virtuous living, should be counted as conk out of their happiness.Since the utilitarians standard for judging an act is the happiness of all people, not of the agent alone, thus, a person must not value his own happiness over the happiness of others and law and gentility help to teach this generosity in individuals. However, this does not mean that peoples motives must but be to serve the greatest good indeed utilitarianism is not come to with the motives back tooth an action the morality of an action depends on the goodness of its result only. Moreover, in most aspects of everyday life, a person will not be affecting large numbers of other people, and thus need not consider his or her actions in relation to the good of all, but only to the good of those involved. It is only the people who work in the public scene of action and affect many other people who must think roughly pu blic utility on a regular basis.Utilitarianisms sanctions (internal and external),a feeling for humanity, are based on natural human sentiments, which the proper system of education could nurture. In order to show that happiness is the sole criterion for morality, it is required to show that people never desire anything but happiness. Mill says that people do desire things like virtue, which in common language is stately from happiness. However, Mill states that people love virtue only because it constitutes a part of happiness. Mill argues that happiness is not an abstract idea, but a strong with component parts. Because virtue is a part of happiness, and promotes the general happiness, utilitarianism encourages the development of virtue. playact Utilitarianism holds that actions should be judged directly according to their consequences for happiness while rule utilitarians are in favor of the principle that actions should be judged according to rules which, if followed, will ha ve consequences conducive to the greater happiness.Critical appreciationContrary to the impression Benthams and Mills highlighting upon pleasure may give, utilitarianism does not imply or sustain an egotistical approach to life. Bentham says, Each is to count for one and no one for more than one. i.e. my own pleasures and pains and those of others are to be calculated and compared but on a par. Utilitarian(s) insist that everyones welfare should be treated as equal. This ensures that utilitarianism is not an egotistical doctrine.Neither is utilitarianism altruistic, i.e. it does allow us to be concerned with our own welfare, though not to the exclusion of others, an attitude of generalized benevolence.The mastery that pleasure is the only thing that is desirable commits a naturalistic fallacy. suited means what ought to be desired cannot be defined in foothold of what men desire and that men actually desire it is no create of a thing being desirableTo infer from the statement that each persons happiness is a good to each particular person, the conclusion that the general happiness is good to the whole number of persons, commits the fallacy of composition.