Mills

In this paper I shall explore the reasons behind why utility should be considered the “ultimate appeal on ethical questions,” as stated by Mill, and in ethical situations. In life, we should look to attain the greatest overall quality of life, which is done through obtaining happiness within ourselves. However, at the same time it is important to consider the pleasure of others as they, theoretically, would be doing the same for us. If people started to try and take advantage of others living this way and decided to become ‘free-riders,’ eventually the utilitarian system would break down and we would be left with a selfish world. This is why its maintenance is so important.

Before continuing, I should give a definition of what I am referring to when speaking of utilitarianism. Taking the term literally, maximum utility results when the following process is undertaken: 1) look at the state of the world after each action made. Look in particular at the level of happiness experienced by people in each of their situations. 2) Add up, somehow, those levels of happiness experienced in each case. 3) And lastly, compare the results. The one that leads to the most amount of total happiness is the “right” one.

When discussing utility in his book titled Utilitarianism written in 1863, Mill states:

“Right and wrong, as well as truth and falsehood, are questions of observation and experience…morality must be deduced from principles...there ought to be some one fundamental principle or law, at the root of all morality, or if there be several, there should be a determinate order of precedence among them; and the one principle, or the rule for deciding between the various principles when they conflict, ought to be self-evident.”

I find much importance in this statement because it seems so true. What we determine to be right or wrong comes from how we were brought up. Mill also states, “moral feelings are not innate, but acquired.” For example, I was raised in a family that believed that to go to church as many Sundays as possible was very important. However, to another person this could be less crucial if their parents raised them as, say, atheists. It seems like the beliefs of those who had the most impact on us as we grew up are the ones imbedded in us. Though this is fine for many, problems may arise when dealing in a situation where two people are dealing with one another in an ethical situation and the two individuals were raised in families of totally separated beliefs.