Utilitarianism

by John Stuart Mill

"Utilitarianism" by John Stuart Mill is an essay written in 1861 that defends the ethical theory of utilitarianism. Mill argues that actions are right when they promote happiness and wrong when they produce the opposite. He refines earlier utilitarian ideas by distinguishing between higher intellectual pleasures and lower bodily ones, while addressing numerous criticisms of the theory. The work attempts to harmonize utilitarian principles with ordinary morality and show how traditional moral rules serve the greatest happiness.