The novel, Hard Times by Charles Dickens revolves around the central idea of English society, including the social, economical, and political issues during the mid 19th century. Fact superior to imagination is one of the main themes of this novel, apparent mainly in book one. Mr. Gradgrind raises his children to ignore their imaginations and anything that is not cold hard fact. For example, Louisa, his daughter, in particular tends to question this rationalism with her curiosity about the circus. There are countless examples in which Mr. Gradgrind bestows his “wisdom” on both his children, and students in the education system located in Coketown. The way Mr. and Mrs. Gradgrind raised their children, described by Dickens, parallels the way in which John Stuart Mill was raised by his own parents in London during the 19th century. John, similarly to Louisa, was educated with the idea that any of his own imagination or creativity was wrong. His parents would burn toys in front of him, emulating the idea that any object or concept that brings happiness is simply wrong. His father, Sir James Stuart Mill, also had a major impact on Mill’s childhood and even manhood. The majority of his infancy was centered on education, and the thought that hard-core knowledge was the solution to any conflict. During this time, his father would make him read Greek and Latin classics to ensure that he were prepared for disciplinary jobs in the future. Through this childhood of fact, and purely fact, along with a lack of moral influences instituted in his life, constituted Mill to become an advocate for utilitarianism. This theory was proposed by Jeremy Bentham who was indeed Mill’s family friend and tutor, emphasizing the idea of maximizing happiness and ...
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...ed to recognize. His intelligence and knowledge had been nurtured and educated by his father, but not his feelings. This seemed to have a major impact on John and his writings. Although he continued his political activities, he still felt as though something was missing. It was not until Mill connected with the poetry of Wordsworth to pull him out of this so critical state of being (Anschutz 1-5). In Mill’s early twenties, he submerged himself into the substantial influence of historicism, the main genre Mill’s father ordered him to read as a child. This charge inspired Mill to search for a new philosophic radicalism, as Colin Heydt so clearly notes, “That would be more sensitive to the limits on freedom imposed by culture and history and would emphasize the cultivation of our humanity, including the cultivation of dispositions of feeling and imagination” (Heydt).
For more than two thousand years, the human race has struggled to effectively establish the basis of morality. Society has made little progress distinguishing between morally right and wrong. Even the most intellectual minds fail to distinguish the underlying principles of morality. A consensus on morality is far from being reached. The struggle to create a basis has created a vigorous warfare, bursting with disagreement and disputation. Despite the lack of understanding, John Stuart Mill confidently believes that truths can still have meaning even if society struggles to understand its principles. Mill does an outstanding job at depicting morality and for that the entire essay is a masterpiece. His claims throughout the essay could not be any closer to the truth.
I will be discussing John Stuart Mill’s views on paternalism. I will argue how I feel about the subject. Then I will try my best to put myself into Mill’s shoes, argue back and try to see if I can understand where he is coming from with his arguments on paternalism. I plan on saying that there should be certain types of laws for different types of paternalistic acts, weak and strong for example. The laws should depend on what goes on when that act occurs and also after that act. I have strong views against Mill on the general way that he explains paternalism, but when I read more into depth Mill really says what I think should really be done.
Utilitarianism defined, is the contention that a man should judge everything based on the ability to promote the greatest individual happiness. In other words Utilitarianism states that good is what brings the most happiness to the most people. John Stuart Mill based his utilitarian principle on the decisions that we make. He says the decisions should always benefit the most people as much as possible no matter what the consequences might be. Mill says that we should weigh the outcomes and make our decisions based on the outcome that benefits the majority of the people. This leads to him stating that pleasure is the only desirable consequence of our decision or actions. Mill believes that human beings are endowed with the ability for conscious thought, and they are not satisfied with physical pleasures, but they strive to achieve pleasure of the mind as well.
people’s overall happiness and this is what God desires, so in fact this theory includes God
John Stuart Mill argues that the rightness or wrongness of an action, or type of action, is a function of the goodness or badness of its consequences, where good consequences are ones that maximize the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. In this essay I will evaluate the essential features of Mill’s ethical theory, how that utilitarianism gives wrong answers to moral questions and partiality are damaging to Utilitarianism.
In this essay, I will argue that one of the underlying motives in Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is the reinforcement of Christian values in 18th century Victorian England. Dickens was very concerned with the accepted social norms of industrialized England, many of which he felt were very inhumane. Christian values were challenged, largely due to the recent publication of Darwin's Origins of a Species, and philosophy along with literature was greatly affected. In 1859, the industrial age was booming, making many entrepreneurs rich. However, the majority of the lower economic class remained impoverished, working in unsafe and horrific environments as underpaid factory workers. Additionally, child labor was an accepted practice in Victorian England's factories. Dickens, who worked, as a child in a shoe polish factory, detested this social convention with such strength that only one with experience in such exploitation could.
Philosophy has offered many works and debates on morality and ethics. One of these works is the concept of utilitarianism. One of the most prominent writers on the theory of utilitarianism is John Stuart Mill. He suggests that utilitarianism may be the guide for morality. His writing on utilitarianism transcends through the present in relation to the famous movie The Matrix. In the movie, people live in a virtual reality where they are relatively happy and content and the real world is filled with a constant struggle to survive. The movie revolves around Neo, who tries to free people from the virtual world in which they live. In light of utilitarianism, freeing these people would be morally wrong. In this essay, I will first explain John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism and some objections it faces. I will then talk about utilitarianism’s relation to The Matrix and why it would be morally wrong to free the people and subject them to the real world.
Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative and John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism are two schools of thought that view morality differently. Both Kant and Mill understand and agree that some form of morality exists. They both recognize that the concept of morality applies to all rational beings and that an action can be deemed as moral or immoral based on reason. Despite being reasonably in agreement about what morality is; there are numerous important differences between Mill and Kant’s perception of morality. Kant believes that there is a supreme principle of morality which he referred to it as the Categorical Imperative, whereas Mill held a Utilitarianism view on morality. The fundamental difference is that Kant’ Categorical Imperative holds
In Chapter 2 of Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill, Mill endeavours to differentiate between higher and lower pleasures in order to defend utilitarianism as both a feasible and inherently moral philosophy. The first two chapters of exposition restate Mill’s definition of utility as the maximization of happiness, and attempt to unify the aforementioned principle with the moral structure human beings generally operate within. In his defense Mill advocates for what he considers the “ultimate happiness principle,” the morality of maximizing pleasure for all parties. He writes: “one would think that a test or criterion·of right and wrong must be the means of discovering what is right or wrong, and not a consequence of having already discovered
12. Oldham, R. (2000) Charles Dickens’ Hard Times: Romantic Tragedy of Proletariat Propaganda [Online]. Available: http://www.pillowrock.com [Accessed: 25th April 2005].
Explain why Mill distinguishes between higher and lower pleasures and assess whether he achieves his aim or not.
In the article Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill argues that happiness, or pleasure should be the root of all human decisions and behaviours. Mill claims that “pleasure and freedom from pain are the only things desirable as ends”(Mill, 94). This quote is the conclusion that pleasure is the only intrinsic good and pleasure means absence of pain. According to this argument, Mill 's theory is defined by the person seeking happiness or pleasure. However, people define the nature of pleasure differently due to the different versions of a pleasure world.
In Charles Dickens' novel Hard Times, he uses the characters to present the reader with many messages. One of these messages presented is that the Gradgrind system of education is faulty. Dickens is critical of an education system that only regards things that can be weighed or measured as being worthy. Thus, intangibles like imagination, emotion, and compassion are not considered worthy. The Gradgrind system of education can be seen as flawed through the examples of Sissy Jupe. The lack of individuality and creativity can be proven to be detrimental to those who ascribe to the Gradgrind system, which denies anything that isn't factual. Sissy's caring; thoughts of fancy, and individualism have kept her from long-term sorrow, pity and loneliness. The Gradgrind system is also proven as flawed through Sissy in that her caring and ingenuity helps the other characters potentially realize how they have let the system flaw them. Also, Sissy's ability to ward of the system's teachings will prove useful and helping others escape the system, be it short term.
Representation is when elected officials nominally speak for their constituents in the legislature. In most cases, representation in government is usually in the form of voting rights, but some democracies have extended this right further. Throughout the semester, we have talked about many different authors’ views and opinions on what representation is in a democracy. Joseph Schumpeter believes in minimalist democrats and that voting does not result in representation. Iris Marion Young talks about inclusive democrats, where the representative institutions should be designed to ensure equal participation of social groups.
Dickens uses Thomas Gradgrind to demonstrate exactly how a basic philosophy of rationality self-interest. Thomas Gradgrind has faith that human nature can be restrained, calculated, and ruled completely by facts. Certainly, his schooling attempts to turn young children into tiny machines. Dickens’s main goal in Hard Times was to exemplify the risks of letting humans become nothing but machines, signifying that the lack of kindness and imagination in life would be intolerable. Louisa balms her father for only teaching her lessons on facts and nothing on life, she feels that that’s the reason she is unhappy in her marriage. “All that I know is, your philosophy and your teaching will not save me. How, father,...