A brief overview of Mill's Utilitarianism concept is best described as the "Greatest Happiness Principle" (Mill 7) that states: you must always act to achieve "the greatest happiness for the greatest amount of people." (Mill 17) For Mill, happiness is defined as "pleasure and the absence of pain." (Mill 7)
Therefore the objectors of this philosophy feel they cannot follow Utilitarianism because when faced with everyday choices they do not have the time …show more content…
Throughout history other people have experienced similar, if not completely akin, situations as you. Time after time, people have learned that the inclination to do something is "dependent on all the prudence as well as the morality of life." (Mill 23) Experience is a cognitive learning process; meaning it displays reason and judgment. You gain knowledge through experience and if not your own experience than that of your forefathers. You have to be cultivated to know what to do in situations where you cannot take the time to weigh the effects of your actions. Therefore, the experience you learn from history should be from noble people. They will help you attain Utilitarianism, and serve as "competent judges." (Mill 11) You can observe their actions and their outcomes to help you figure out what to do in your own situations. Utilitarianism has no set moral rules. (Class Notes) All the experiences in history have been accumulated based on the "morality of life" (Mill 23) and so you know it will most likely lead to human happiness. And you want to achieve this human happiness by using the Utilitarian calculus to add pleasure and subtract