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What I expect to learn:

    I expect to learn why there are Utilitarianism here in this world.

Book Review:

    “A contemporary record of Mill's studies from eight to thirteen is published in Bain's sketch of his life. It suggests that his autobiography rather understates the amount of work done.

This intensive study however had injurious effects on Mill's mental health, and state of mind. At the age of twenty he suffered a nervous breakdown. As explained in chapter V of his Autobiography, this was caused by the great physical and mental arduousness of his studies which had suppressed any feelings he might have developed normally in childhood. Nevertheless, this depression eventually began to dissipate, as he began to find solace in the Mémoires of Jean-François Marmontel and the poetry of William Wordsworth - his capacity for emotion resurfaced - Mill remarking that the "cloud gradually drew off".

Mill refused to study at Oxford University or Cambridge University, because he refused to take Anglican orders from the "white devil". Instead he followed his father to work for the British East India Company until 1858.” (Wikipedia. Retrieved Febrauary 8, 2009, http://en.wikipedia.org/John_Stuart_Mill)

    Mill says that the principle of utility is actions or behaviours are right as long as they promote happiness or pleasure, wrong as they tend to produce unhappiness or pain. Mill reply to the objection that Epicureanism is a doctrine worthy only of swine because he doesn’t believe that everything is based on divine intervention. The higher pleasures in life from what Mill’s distinguish are the ones about intellect, imagination, and emotion. While the lower pleasures like sexually related activities of the human being.

What I learned:

    I learned that the most important thing in this world is the pleasure that you are getting from intelligence.

Review Question:

1.    State and explain the Principle of Utility. Show how it could be used to justify actions that are conventionally viewed as wrong, such as lying and stealing.

•    The principle of utility is actions or behaviours are right as long as they promote happiness or pleasure, wrong as they tend to produce unhappiness or pain. Lying and stealing can be justified in the Principle of Utility once the doer or the person does the action had pleasure or happiness doing it, then it is viewed to them as right actions.

2.    How does Mill reply to the objection that Epicureanism is a doctrine worthy only of swine?

•    Mill reply to the objection that Epicureanism is a doctrine worthy only of swine because he doesn’t believe that everything is based on divine intervention. Epicureanism just implemented it superiority mentality over us because it made us think that all that has been done are made with divine intervention and not by us.

3.    How does Mill distinguish between higher and lower pleasures?

•    The higher pleasures in life from what Mill’s distinguish are the ones about intellect, imagination, and emotion. While the lower pleasures like sexually related activities of the human being. Higher pleasure are better because most of the time it just came ones and its gone while the lower pleasure can come to us by merely almost all the time that we wanted too.

4.    According to Mill, whose happiness must be considered?

•    According to Mill, happiness must be considered to those who feel and appreciate happiness like the animals and us. We must consider the happiness of other people because we cannot say what is right to us is also right to them and so we must respect their views in life.  We must also respect the happiness of the animals because they also feel pain and comfort with their own kind or with us. So considering the happiness of all the living things is really depends on what they think for them is the source of their happiness in life.

5.    Carefully reconstruct Mill’s proof of the Principle of Utility.

•    When a person did a right thing and he felt happiness doing it, then we can say that this is right. When a person did a wrong action but felt happiness in doing it then it still wrong not like what Mill’s said, when you felt happiness on your action then it is already right.

Discussion Questions:

1.    Is happiness nothing more than pleasure, and the absence of pain? What do you think?

•    I think that happiness is not merely feeling pleasure but you should also feel some pain because in life you cannot have only pleasure but at the same time you should feel that pain in attaining that pleasure.

2.    Does Mill convince you that the so-called higher pleasures are better than the lower ones? What about the person of experience who prefers the lower pleasures over the higher ones?

•    Mill had convinced me that his so-called higher pleasure are better than the lower ones because as you think of it the self contentment when you accomplish your higher pleasure in life is way further. The knowledge and the duration of the pleasure that we can get from our higher pleasure is life time than the lower pleasure.

3.    Mills says, “In the golden rule of Jesus of Nazareth, we read the complete spirit of the ethics of utility.” Is this true or not?

•    What Mill say is true, because Jesus of Nazareth is the ultimate savoir and scholar of ethics of utility. He is the one who knows what is right and wrong in this world.

4.    Many commentators have thought that Mill’s proof of Principle of Utility is defective. Do you agree? If so, then what mistake or mistakes does he make? Is there any way to reformulate the proof so that it is not defective?

•    I think in some way his Principle of Utility is defective because he is saying that even you done a wrong thing but you felt happiness then you still committed a right thing for yourself, and for me that is absurd.

Integrative Questions:

1.    What is wrong and right in life?

2.    What can we consider wrong in finding happiness?

3.    Is doing right things is enough o give you pleasure?

4.    Is the lower pleasure in life avoidable?

5.    Those pleasures in life is somewhat connected?