NOTES – JOHN STUART MILL - UTILITARIANISM 1. John Stuart Mill – On Virtue and Happiness (1863)The utilitarian doctrine is‚ that happiness is desirable‚ and the only thing desirable‚ as an end; all other things being only desirable as means to that end. What ought to be required of this doctrine‚ what conditions is it requisite that the doctrine should fulfill‚ to make good its claim to be believed? The only proof capable of being given that an object is visible is that people actually see it.
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J.S. Mill He was the most influential thinker of 19th century. The importance of his political theory is that liberalism made a transition from laissez faire to state centered‚ from negative to positive concept of liberty and from an atomic to more social conception of individual. Mill’s criticism of Bentham’s utilitarianism was one of the most important contributions to political thought. Published the History of India in 1818 His essays “On Liberty” (1859) and “The Subjection of Women” (1861) were
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a) Explain‚ using your own examples‚ John Stuart Mill’s case for freedom of expression. John Stuart Mill was a Utilitarian‚ believing that all ethical questions should be decided by applying the Principle of Utility. This principle states that the morally correct action in any situation is that which will increase happiness for the greatest number of people. Actions are right in proportion that they tend to promote happiness‚ wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. From Warburton
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Nature and Nurture Argument Have you ever wondered where you got your different talents from? Where did you get your talent for singing or your skill for playing certain sports? Were these things taught to you by your parents or was it predetermined by your genes? It is understood clearly that eye color and are physical characteristics and are hereditary. But where do we get our individual personality‚ our intelligence‚ our behavior? For some it’s not clearly understood. The nature versus nurture
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A Common Objection to Mill The most common criticism of the position Mill argues in On Liberty and of the liberal tradition derived most directly from Mill is this: What room does his model of society have for those who are excluded from the competitions he favours because they have no access to the competitive arenas or to the training facilities necessary to equip them for the competition? Consider‚ for example‚ the issues of free speech and argument‚ the engines that are going to drive society’s
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society? Does John Stuart Mill make a good case for free speech? Under what condition‚ if any‚ might free speech be restricted according to John Stuart Mill and to Matthew Kieran? Argue for your answer‚ and illustrate with relevant cases and examples in Singapore. Introduction In most democratic countries‚ the freedom of saying what you like‚ of criticizing the authorities‚ and of discussing ideas without fear‚ is a basic importance. Within a sense of this matter‚ John Stuart Mill devoted most
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Nature vs nurture the nature nurture argument has been around since 1869‚ it is a term in psychology related to weather nature which is our genes we inherit from our parents (DNA) or is it nurture- the environment where we live that most impact on psychological development. Do we behave the way we do because it is imprinted in our DNA or is it our environment reflecting on our behaviour. Some scientist argue on the nature side‚ that your characteristics and personality are purely based on your
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The approach that I strongly agree with is the John Stuart Mill’s doctrine and Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is a moral approach that believes `` the supreme principle of morality is to produce as much happiness as possible`` (118). Utilitarianism evaluates the right action according to the amount of happiness and absence of pain. In addition‚ ``there is in reality nothing desired except happiness`` (118).The right action should result the most desirable happiness as many people as possible. I choose
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Perhaps quite eloquently‚ in John Stuart Mill’s text Utilitarianism he noted that “there are few circumstances among those which make up the present condition of human knowledge more unlike what might have been expected‚ or more significant of the backward state in which speculation on the most important subjects still lingers‚ than the little progress which has been made in the decision of controversy respecting the criterion of right and wrong” (Mill 1:1-6). In summary‚ it is rather evident that
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Mill‚ John Stuart. Utilitarianism 2nd ed. Edited by George Sher. Indianapolis‚ IN: Hackett Publishing Company‚ Inc.‚ 2001. INTRODUCTION It can be argued that no other philosophical system has so permeated Western thought as utilitarianism. From the early Greek thinkers like Epicures to post-Enlightenment writers such as Jeremy Bentham‚ the expediency of utilitarianism has been defended and expounded. Perhaps the most famous proponent of utility for modern times is John Stuart Mill. Mill
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