Greatest Happiness Principle

537 Words3 Pages
According to the “Greatest Happiness Principle,” an action can only be right if it promotes happiness and an action is wrong if it provides the opposite of happiness. Mill’s utilitarian theory believes “all desirable things…are desirable for the pleasure inherent in themselves, or as means to the promotion of pleasure and the prevention of pain.” Applying this theory to life would be an easy task, and one that many would be more than happy to live by. Enjoying a life in which there is nothing better or more attainable than pleasure, to achieve anything that would keep one away from pain and enjoy a simple life of pleasure just like as a common animal would be ideal. So using this piece of a theory, it appears that the highest good would produce the highest pleasure. Now comes the decision of what is the highest pleasure. Utilitarian’s, and thereby Mill, believe that the placement of superiority goes to intellectual pleasures. While some may most certainly agree that there are some physical pleasures that surpass those of intellectuality, Mill and other utilitarian’s place “mental over bodily pleasures” mainly because it is more likely to stay in place longer, probably safer, might not be as expensive, and just has more advantages than a physical pleasure would have. The way Mill seems to distinguish the differences between higher and lower pleasures is based on the experiences of someone who has experienced both. If one was to experience both an intellectual and a physical pleasure (not necessarily at the same time) eventually they are going to have a preference of one over the other. It is of no moral obligation to choose other than having a pure and strong desire to choose that one particular pleasure. But that desire and decision makes it the higher pleasure. Mill has to make that difference clear because although it is up to the one who has done both
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