PP110 Lecture Notes - John Stuart Mill, Rule Utilitarianism, Pg. 99
Document Summary
John stuart mill, lived in the victorian era (1806-73) Did not invent it but gave the most extensive review on it. Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory of ethics. It is based on judging our actions as right or wrong according to whether their consequences are good or bad respectively. Ulitarianism is a normative ethical theory and its purpose is to give guidance. It suggests a norm or standard by which to measure whether our actions are right/wrong. The norm by which such judgements are made is their utility (hence the name of the theory), ie, their good consequences. For many utilitarian"s this utility is understood to be happiness, which john s. mill defines as. Pleasure and the absence of pain (state that most want to be in). This is a common view and a measure, something we can grasp and is less abstract. Equating happiness with pleasure or with the absence of suffering more generally is known as hedonism.