John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism

The basic moral principle of utilitarianism is called the principle of utility or the greatest happiness principle. As John Stuart Mill explained it “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness” Utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism. It focuses on the consequences of action. Utilitarian believe that pleasure or happiness is the good to be produced. As Bentham put it “Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do” Things such as fame, fortune, education, and freedom may be good, but only to the extent that they produce
For example, let’s say there’s a house on fire with two locked rooms: one room with three people who have criminal records and the other room with my parents that can be saved. According to Utilitarianism, the action that will produce the greatest good is to break down the room with criminals and save them and let the two loved ones suffer. Acting in such a way would create the greatest positive effect on the world but is unreasonable and too hard to uphold. Also Utilitarianism is too impersonal and does not consider rights of individuals in its attempt to look for the greater good. I wouldn’t accept that cheating, stealing, lying may be justified depending on whether they maximize happiness in particular case. I agree with Kant to “always treat humanity, whether in yourself or in other people, as an end in itself and never as a mere means.” I believe this assertion should be essential moral concept that everyone must live by. It is wrong to treat others as a mere means and use others as a tool to profit oneself. It is morally good to treat others as ends in themselves as to not deny them relevant information. People must be allowed the freedom of choice for greater