People like Thomas Carlyle have declared that man can live just as well without happiness. John Stuart Mill acknowledges that while this may be true in theory, that men do not conduct their lives in total pursuit of happiness, they still need a gauge with which to measure morality. Happiness may not necessarily mean continuous rapture, for such intense experiences are momentary at best. Nevertheless, happiness to some may merely translate to being the a

sh" pleasures which were frowned upon by the educated classes at this time.

Mill is ultimately successful in that he points out that contrary to popular belief, utilitarianism is not a completely selfish motivation which does not take into consideration the desires of others. Virtue, while not completely synonymous with happiness, is a component thereof, and is an attribute desirable to society as a whole. One who causes pain in others cannot be described as virtuous. In the final analysis, John Stuart Mill successfully proved his point by noting that happiness is not an all-inclusive term. It is comprised of many components and represents different things to different people. Whether man is dedicated to becoming a millionaire, famous, or living a virtuous and healthy life, he is merely exercising contrary means to the same end -- "pleasure and freedom from pain."

voidance of pain. After all, feeling nothing is certainly comparable to feelings of pain, isn’t it? In Utilitarianism, Mill noted, "Utility includes not solely the pursuit of happiness, but the prevention or mitigation of unhappiness" (Mill 11).

Utilitarianism began life as an ethical principle under Jeremy Bentham who theorised that an action if right if it produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people. In its original form the argument had many flaws so John Stuart Mill decided to defend the principle of Utility against it´s critics by refining it´s ideas making them more practical in society.

Jeremy Bentham´s theory of Utilitarianism was based on an observation, that the definition "good" in terms of "pleasure" and established that two things are intrinsically good namely pleasure itself and freedom from pain. His logical progression deduced that we ought to increase what is good by increasing what brings us pleasure or freedom from pain. Thus the Principle of Utility was created - "act in such a way as to bring about the greatest happiness of the greatest number working to incr

Some topics in this essay:
Stuart Mill, Principle Utility, Rita Willie, Hedonic Calculus, Utilitarianism Mill, Verdi´s Tosca, Titus Smith, Jeremy Bentham´s, War III, Calculus Bentham´s, stuart mill, john stuart, john stuart mill, hedonic calculus, bentham´s theory, pleasure freedom, pleasure freedom pain, titus smith, freedom pain, titus smith 124, individual happiness, argument flaws, smith 124, experienced pleasure sacrifice,