POLS 250 Lecture Notes - John Stuart Mill, Rule Utilitarianism, On Liberty
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Pols250 winter term notes secret slides part 4 (john stuart mill) Secret slide 1: haydn and the oyster example (looking at jss critique of bentham saying that the quantity of pleasure is not all that matters) Bentham: we should choose oyster (more quantity of pleasure) Ill: wants to reject this . the quality is what matters: mills informed preference test. Solution to the hayden and the oyster example. Key is you have to experience the pleasures in order to qualify for the test. Test is not as simple as putting something in lower or higher category. Scratching an itch vs. drinking a beer . drinking a beer vs. reading poetry. Higher and lower pleasures are all relative. Secret slide 3: the proof of utility principal. Stage 2) the greatest happiness is desirable (maximize everyone else"s happiness) Gap between saying it is rational to pursue your own greatest happiness to pursuing the greatest happiness overall. Egoist might accept 1 but not 2.