J.S MILL IDEA OF UTILITARIANISM

PREPARED BY DR. AMRITA JAISWAL ASSISTANT PROFESSOR DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE B.N COLLEGE PATNA UNIVERSITY Life Sketch

 Time Period 1806-1873  He was the disciple of Jeremy Bentham.  He belongs to the time of transition, and is a connecting link between the classical liberals and modern liberals.  Bentham was known as Father of Utilitarianism. Mill wanted to defend Bentham hence Mill revised Utilitarianism. Major Works of J.S Mill

 Elements of Political Economy (1820)  System of Logic (1843)  On Liberty (1859)  The Subjection of Women (1869)  The Consideration of Representative Government (1861)  On Utilitarianism (1863) Mill On Utilitarianism

 What is Utilitarianism? Utilitarianism has been the dominant philosophy of Britain. We can trace the origin of Utilitarianism to Sophism, Epicureanism. One of the earliest exponent of Utilitarianism were David Hume, Hobbes, Priestley. It was Bentham who made Utilitarianism as a school of thought. Hence, Bentham is called as Father of Utilitarianism as he made it a systematic philosophy  The term Utilitarianism comes from the term utility. Utility is the capacity to give pleasure or satisfaction.  According to Utilitarianism pleasure and pains are the only guide.  According to Bentham, “Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters pleasure and pain. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do as well as to determine what we shall do”.  According to Bentham only utility can be the basis of ethics because man cannot act otherwise.  Therefore Utilitarianism is the doctrine that believes, that actions are right if they are useful for the benefit of a majority.

Characteristics of Pleasure according to Bentham

 Pleasure is purely quantitative term. There is no concept/issue of quality. Either there is more pleasure or less pleasure. There is nothing like inferior or superior pleasure. In the words of Bentham “Pushpin is as good as poetry”.  Since pleasure do not differ in quality persons also do not differ in quality. He does not believe in the theories like some are men of reason and some are men of Appetite. In this sense Bentham is more democratic.  Pleasure have materialistic origin.  Pleasure is always an Individualistic experience.  According to Bentham, state should follow such policy which gives maximum happiness to maximum number of people. Mill Revives Utilitarianism

 Mill brings Idealism in Utilitarianism.

 Utilitarianism is a extreme materialism, in order to revive Utilitarianism Mill brings ideas from Greek scholar like Socrates and Plato with materialism that it is said that Mill has destroyed Utilitarianism. “It is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than fool/man satisfied, it is better to be man dissatisfied than pig satisfied”. In What Ways Utilitarianism of Mill Differ From that of Bentham

 For Bentham Pleasure is quantitative whereas for Mill pleasure not only differs in quantity, they also differ in quality.  For Bentham not only pleasure do not differ in quality even persons do not differ in quality. On the other hand Mill suggests that persons differ in quality . Some are Socrates i.e man of reason, some are pigs i.e man of Appetite.  Once Mill accept pleasure as qualitative term he renders felicific calculus useless as quality cannot be measured.  Mill modifies the concept of utility. I. For Mill there is a need to make a difference between pleasure and happiness. II. Happiness is superior to pleasure. III. Pleasure is materialistic and happiness is non- materialistic. Pleasure is a satisfaction of appetite, happiness is the satisfaction of soul. IV. If pleasure is gained by experience, happiness is gained by sacrifice.  Once Mill makes a difference between Pleasure and happiness. Mill also questions the belief of Bentham that man is not capable of understanding pleasure and pain of the others.  Mill takes the progressive view of man. Initially man may have been dominated by appetite but gradually man become rational.  According to Mill, the concept of utility has to be grounded in the permanent interest of man. CONCLUSION

Above discussion shows that Mill was a Peter who denied his master and in his effort to protect Benthamism he ultimately destroyed the very foundation of Benthamism.