Philosophy Study Guide for Exam 1
1. Describe Mill's Theory of the good and assess whether or not it is adequate. Include the following points:
a. According to Mill, the only thing valuable, the only thing that makes human life worthwhile is happiness (pleasure, absence of pain), in general, not per individual. This applies to everyone, all of sentient creation, because animals can feel pleasure and pain too.
b. The fist objection states that, this is "a doctrine only worthy of swine." This means that if we determine what action to take based solely on promoting happiness, or pleasures that we will be we just as bad as beasts, or lower animals. This may look like a big problem for Mill's theory of the good because it seems as if there isn't much more that makes human life valuable than the mere pleasures of say eating, drinking, sex? But this objection has too narrow an understanding of pleasure.
c. Mill's responds to this objection by saying that the pleasures of knowledge, creativity, emotions, the arts, relationships, and spirituality, should also be included. These "higher" pleasures are generally recommended (by utilitarianists) over the sensory pleasures, since they are more pure (don't tend to produce pain later) and more found (tend to keep producing more pleasure later). So overall, these "higher" pleasures are a greater quantity of pleasure overall.
i. Mill's also states that the pleasures of knowledge, creativity, etc. are also of higher quality. He comes to this conclusion through the logic that: whatever people who have completely experienced two kinds of pleasures (sensory and aesthetic), whichever kind they consistently choose is the ...