Utilitarianism

By John Stuart Mill

John Stuart Mill was a British philosopher, political economist and civil servant. He was an influential contributor to social theory, political theory and political economy. He has been called "the most influential English-speaking philosopher of the nineteenth century". Mill's conception of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control. He was a proponent of utilitarianism, an ethical theory developed by Jeremy Bentham. Hoping to remedy the problems found in an inductive approach to science, such as confirmation bias, he clearly set forth the premises of falsifiability as the key component in the scientific method. Mill was also a Member of Parliament and an important figure in liberal political philosophy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookRix
• Release date: Jun 27, 2019
• ISBN: 9783736808317

Reviews for Utilitarianism

[tripleagirl · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Okay, I'm not sure what to say about this. It's like milk; it's good for you, but can leave you bloated and gassy and the cover is totally uninspiring. Most of the writing is equally uninspiring. I recommend 2 minutes of Utilitarianism followed by 20 minutes of Googling gossipy facts about Mill.

[nielspeterqm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Mill's inspired attempt to rescue, revive, & update Bentham's raw Enlightenment utilitarianism. As fundamental to modern ethics as On Liberty is to modern political thought, Utilitarianism surely is a more controversial & flawed text. Notably, Mill's attempt to found "higher" vs "lower" forms of pleasure philosophically, essential to his entire project, is not just unconvincing; its thinness is conspicuously at odds with the robustness built into so much of his other work.

[whitewavedarling · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Dense at some points, but an interesting read that's a perfect primer on the foundations of utilitarianism. If you're at all interested in the topics considered, particularly intersections of ideas of justice with utilitarian principles, I recommend this. Mill also gives an interesting look at perceptions and basis of the idea of "justice" that might be of interest to readers who aren't directly interested the utilitarian philosophy.

[jbarringer-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not my favorite of Mill's writings, but this one is definitely a bit more complex than the excerpts in textbooks would suggest. It is not a long read, and if not entertaining, it is at least well enough written to be readable without too much tedium. Mill does tend to repeat himself a lot, as do a lot of authors from his time, but it is interesting to see what ideas he promotes besides the notion of utilitarianism in this document.