Mill: higher pleasures, the harm principle and rules

Overview

Higher pleasure, lower pleasure and mill's harm principle.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Who was John Stuart Mill?

   Model answer

   John Stuart Mill was a nineteenth-century English philosopher and Bentham's most important successor. The essay Utilitarianism was published in 1863.

2. 2

   Why did Mill distinguish higher from lower pleasures?

   Model answer

   Mill held that Bentham's calculus counted quantity alone and so ranked base pleasures beside noble ones. Quality had to be introduced as well.

3. 3

   Define a higher pleasure.

   Model answer

   A higher pleasure is intellectual, moral or aesthetic, such as reading, friendship or music. Mill treats these as superior in kind.

4. 4

   Define a lower pleasure.

   Model answer

   A lower pleasure is a basic bodily satisfaction such as eating or drinking. Mill does not deny its value, only its rank.

5. 5

   How does Mill propose to establish which pleasures are higher?

   Model answer

   Mill appeals to the verdict of competent judges who have experienced both kinds. Their preference settles the ranking.

6. 6

   Quote the comparison Mill draws between Socrates and a fool.

   Model answer

   Mill writes that it is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. The dissatisfied Socrates knows both sides of the comparison.

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