Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Method of Citation
- Introduction
- 1 Mill's Life and Philosophical Background
- 2 Mill's Criticism of Alternative Theories
- 3 Qualities of Pleasure
- 4 Was Mill an Act- or Rule-Utilitarian?
- 5 Sanctions and Moral Motivation
- 6 Mill's “Proof” of the Principle of Utility
- 7 Utility and Justice
- Appendix: An Overall View of Mill's Utilitarianism
- Bibliography
- Index
1 - Mill's Life and Philosophical Background
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Method of Citation
- Introduction
- 1 Mill's Life and Philosophical Background
- 2 Mill's Criticism of Alternative Theories
- 3 Qualities of Pleasure
- 4 Was Mill an Act- or Rule-Utilitarian?
- 5 Sanctions and Moral Motivation
- 6 Mill's “Proof” of the Principle of Utility
- 7 Utility and Justice
- Appendix: An Overall View of Mill's Utilitarianism
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Utilitarianism as a distinct tradition in ethical thought was founded by Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832). The principle of utility, that the production of happiness and elimination of unhappiness should be the standard for the judgment of right action and for the criticism of social, political, and legal institutions, was proposed by many writers in the eighteenth century, but it was Bentham who attempted to build a complete system of moral and legal philosophy upon that basis, and it was Bentham whose doctrine became the basis of a reform movement in the nineteenth century. A brief statement of Bentham's philosophy will be given at the end of this chapter.
John Stuart Mill was a direct heir of Bentham's philosophy. His father, James Mill (1773–1836), had moved from Scotland to become a freelance journalist in London, where he edited two journals, translated books, and in the period of John Stuart's childhood wrote a multivolume History of British India. This became the standard work on the subject and earned him a post with the East India Company, which, as a quasi-governmental bureau, managed British colonial interests in India. Soon after moving to London, James Mill became acquainted with Bentham. John Stuart writes in his Autobiography that his father was “the earliest Englishman of any great mark, who thoroughly understood, and in the main adopted, Bentham's general views of ethics, government, and law.”
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- An Introduction to Mill's Utilitarian Ethics , pp. 8 - 27Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003