John Stuart Mill

Jake, Maria, Stuart & Tommy

Life History

Born May 20th, 1806 in London

Father, James, was a economist, philosopher, and historian

John was home schooled by his father        -Very intense schooling        -Father's goal was to make a genius

At age 13 he started studying Smith and Ricardo        -Completed some of their work

History continued...

Around age twenty he started having mental issues

Refused to study at Oxford and Cambridge

Followed his father's footsteps into work at East Indian Company

Married Harriet Taylor in 1851

He was Lord Rector at University of St. Andrews and served on Parliament in Westminster

Died in France on May 8th, 1873 at age 66. 

Influences on Work

His Father, James Mill        -Biggest influence        -Utilitarianism 

Jeremy Bentham        -Utilitarianism        Aristotle & Socrates        -Early years of schooling        

 

Influences continued...

David Ricardo        -Family friend        -Political economy

Harriet Taylor, Wife        -The Subjection of Women        -On Liberty        -Human Rights

Samuel Bentham (Jeremy's Brother)        -Lived with for a year in France        -Math and Sciences

Early Works

John Stuart Mill had many early works prior to his paper on Utilitarianism.

They include among others:• Views On Liberty •  Freedom of Speech •  Human Rights and Slavery•  Feminism

On Liberty

• Individual should be able to do as he pleases unless he harms others. 

•  Government should only interfere when it is for the protection of the society

"The sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their

number, is self-protection. That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community,

against his will, is to prevent harm to others."

Freedom of Speech

without allowing them to hear what can be said on the contrary side

• Argued for Freedom of Speech based on political grounds saying that it is a critical component for a representative government to have in order to empower debate over public policy

•  Personal growth and self realization•  Without being able to speak freely, how are we to know what a

person can accomplish?

Human Rights/Feminism

• Responded to Thomas Carlyle's paper about genetic inferiority, in which he stated that there was in fact no genetic inferiority and that all men we capable of doing great things. 

•  In "The Subjection of Women," Mill argues for perfect equality. • Mill believed that female roles were misconstrued in the days

society. 

3 Major Reasons for the Subjection of Women– Society and gender construction

– Education – Marriage

UTILITARIANISM

UTILITARIANISM (1863)Chapter One: General Remarks• Ongoing conflict of determining right and wrong

o Morals vs Legislationo Problems with science: do not prove the "good" & leave

out moralso Science of Morals 

• Principle Law at Root of all Morality: decides for various conflicting principleso Great Happiness Principle

• Universal Principle & the origin and ground of moral obligation: "So act, that the rule on which thou actest would admit of being adopted as a law by all rational beings"

Chapter Two: What Utilitarianism Is

FOUNDATION "Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, and wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness"• pain vs pleasure

o life has no higher end than pleasure, different kinds of pleasure being more desirable than others based on quantity and quality

• Dignity Factor: "Better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied"

• Expectations vs Accessibility

Directive Rule of Human Conduct: "greatest amount of happiness all together"

o one may be happier than another but acceptable as long as rest of world gains

Great Happiness Principle"The ultimate end"; "is an existence exempt as far as possible from pain, and as rich as possible in enjoyments, both in point of quantity and quality; the test of quality, and the rule for measuring it against quantity, being the preference felt by those who in their opportunities of experience, to which must be added their habits of self-consciousness and self-observation, are best furnished with the means of comparison." 

o the end of human actiono standard of moralityo the rules and precepts for human conduct

• Need to:o Balance o Sacrifice own happiness for someone elses: "highest virtue which can be

found in a man" Object of Virtue: multiplication of happiness

Chapter Three: Of the Ultimate Sanction of the Principle of UtilityHow do we get people to behave in a proper way and to honor utilitarianism?Sanctions• Internal vs. External

• Dutyo Ultimate Sanction: in the conscience and feeling in mind

• Nature & Equality among population

Opposition to Government, Politics, and Religion

"

Chapter Four: Of What Sort of Proof the Principle of Utility is SusceptiblePROOF"Sole evidence it is possible to produce that anything is desirable...that people actually desire it." 

o Happiness is a good: that each person's happiness is a good to that person, and the general happiness, therefore, a good to the aggregate of all persons. 

o People vary in other desires, but happiness is universal

Parts of Happiness• Money

o "Moving forces of human life, desire to possess it is stronger than desire to use it"

o Principle ingredient of individual's consumption of happiness

• Virtueo Want people to desire virtue

Habits• In feeling and in conduct, habit gets in the way of doing good• we rely on ourselves and each other, "habitual independence"

Chapter Five: On the Connection between Justice and UtilityJustice• Right and Wrong

o Unjust: Depriving someone of the things they are allowed to by legal right

• Receive good for doing good • In all languages, the word justice deals with the law, or

conforming to the law, or a legal constraint, yet the "notion of justice varies in all different persons, and always conforms in its variations to their notion of utility"

Law• "Valid claim on society to protect him in the possession of it"• Do not restrict ones legal rights, but moral rights, thus no piece of

justice can be carried out without trampling another         9\• Government contradicts equality

Unjust Actionso A wrong doneo An assignable person performing a wrong doneo An individual being harmed

When are we legally constrained? When are we punished? What is the proper punishment? How is that determined?• Law, our conscience & duty, or by others

Punishment:• Should be proportional to the offense

Adaptations of Utilitarianism

• Prioritarianism o Not to Maximize happiness, but to Minimize Paino Not simply overall well-being o Compassion – Help out worse off individualso Many people with average lives is better than a large deviation

of well-being amongst people Situation A:    Jim: 110               Jane: -70 Situation B:    Jim: 20                 Jane: 15

Repugnant Conclusion

• AKA Mere Addition Paradox• As a population grows, the Wellbeing will decrease..

But there are more happy people• Population Ethics • Basically we need to acknowledge the fact that

simply maximizing the utility is not the only important factor. Morality of growth of the population and a sense of duty to have children must be taken into account. 

• Challenge of Modern ethics

What have we learned

• John Stuart Millo British born Son to Economist/Philosopher o Unique upbringing o Many influences growing up such as:

Jeremy Bentham, David Ricardo, Aristotle, His family (Wife, brother and father)

o Had mental issues in his 20’s, died at the age of 66

Impacts on the world

• Early Works:o Liberty o Freedom of speecho Human Rightso Feminism

Also: Limiting power of government, social liberty

Utilitarianism

• Conflict of Determining right and wrong• The foundation • Great Happiness Principle • How to regulate and guide this idea• Explain why happiness is so crucial • Decisions about punishment and praise

Conclusion

 

• The Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy. "John Stuart Mill." Utilitarianism : Past, Present and Future. BLTC Research. Web. 11 Feb. 2012. <http://www.utilitarianism.com/jsmill.htm>.

• Econlib. "John Stuart Mill: The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics." Library of Economics and Liberty. Liberty Fund, Inc., 2008. Web. 11 Feb. 2012. <http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Mill.html>.

• Mill, John Stuart. "Utilitarianism." Utilitarianism : Past, Present and Future. BLTC. Web. 24 Feb. 2012. <http://www.utilitarianism.com/mill1.htm>.

•  http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/repugnant-conclusion/