The work sets the framework for the theory of utility by observation of human experience looking for what inspires man. Mill states that Utilitarianism is.
"a cultivated mind-I do not mean that of a philosopher, but any mind to which the foundations of knowledge have been opened, and which has been taught, in any tolerable degree, to exercise its faculties-finds sources of inexhaustible interest in all that surrounds it: in the objects of nature, the achievements of art, the imaginations of poetry, the incidents of history, the ways of mankind, past and present, and their prospects in the future" (viii). .
Mill opens up this theory and encompass the best cohesive framework for understanding utilitarianism. The enduring popularity of Mill most likely lies in his stating of objections to utilitarianism and reapplication of utility in many ethical and moral problems. Mill's work, which is known as Utilitarianism, gives the framework for the whole theory of utility. .
Mill begins by explaining what is Utilitarianism, and setting the foundations upon which it stands. The very staring point of utility lies in the greatness happiness principle that "holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness" (Mill 7). He makes an early distinction on the Utilitarian position that happiness is the greatest amount of pleasure and least amount of pain. "By happiness is intended pleasure and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain and the privation of pleasure" (7). Morality for Mill is based on human desires since the only real intrinsic good is man's desire for pleasure or satisfactions. "Pleasure and freedom from pain are the only things desirable as ends; and that all desirable things are desirable either for pleasure inherent in themselves or as means to the promotion of pleasure and the prevention of pain" (7).
