4. The Proof and Sanctions of Utilitarianism
Moral Theory and Methodology
Mills 'creed' (moral theory) - what makes actions right or wrong:
'Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce
the reverse happiness'
This differed from e.g. Kant
Who believed in following a set of laws/maxims
Even if to lie would create more happiness than to tell the truth for example, we should follow the
maxim of truth telling
Aristotle's 'virtue ethics'
One should act as the virtuous person would act
(virtue theorists say that this will not always lead to the greatest happiness)
How should we decide between these theories?
One theory:
Through moral sense - in any situation or conscience tells us what to do
Another theory which Mill takes more seriously (but does not agree with):
Through the intuitive theory - we have a moral instinct, which also enables us to not make certain
judgements, but to recognise general moral principles
(consistent with utilitarianism)
Mill allies himself with the inductive school - right and wrong are a matter of observation and
experience (empiricism)
Mill dislikes the moral sense view because it implies that there is a sense other than physical
experience, furthermore he was a naturalist (believed everything could be explained by science)
which in turn can explain any notion of moral sense
Mill disagrees with the intuitive theory because it seems to have 'self evident' and unscientific
(empirically grounded) principles, furthermore theorists rarely offer a list of principles, and have not
reduced them to a first principle
Utilitarianism cannot be proved deductively
Mill believed most common sense morality is based on the utilitarian principle, although it is not
often recognised
This does not prove it but does give it a rational footing
i.e. We cannot prove them (first principles) but we can make an appeal to the faculties which judge
them: the senses and internal consciousness
For an empiricist this is equivalent to proof
The stages of the 'proof'
1. Happiness is desirable
2. The general happiness is desirable
3. Nothing other than happiness is desirable
Stage 1: 'Visible' and 'Desirable'
Mill
People desire their own happiness
Moral Theory and Methodology
Mills 'creed' (moral theory) - what makes actions right or wrong:
'Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce
the reverse happiness'
This differed from e.g. Kant
Who believed in following a set of laws/maxims
Even if to lie would create more happiness than to tell the truth for example, we should follow the
maxim of truth telling
Aristotle's 'virtue ethics'
One should act as the virtuous person would act
(virtue theorists say that this will not always lead to the greatest happiness)
How should we decide between these theories?
One theory:
Through moral sense - in any situation or conscience tells us what to do
Another theory which Mill takes more seriously (but does not agree with):
Through the intuitive theory - we have a moral instinct, which also enables us to not make certain
judgements, but to recognise general moral principles
(consistent with utilitarianism)
Mill allies himself with the inductive school - right and wrong are a matter of observation and
experience (empiricism)
Mill dislikes the moral sense view because it implies that there is a sense other than physical
experience, furthermore he was a naturalist (believed everything could be explained by science)
which in turn can explain any notion of moral sense
Mill disagrees with the intuitive theory because it seems to have 'self evident' and unscientific
(empirically grounded) principles, furthermore theorists rarely offer a list of principles, and have not
reduced them to a first principle
Utilitarianism cannot be proved deductively
Mill believed most common sense morality is based on the utilitarian principle, although it is not
often recognised
This does not prove it but does give it a rational footing
i.e. We cannot prove them (first principles) but we can make an appeal to the faculties which judge
them: the senses and internal consciousness
For an empiricist this is equivalent to proof
The stages of the 'proof'
1. Happiness is desirable
2. The general happiness is desirable
3. Nothing other than happiness is desirable
Stage 1: 'Visible' and 'Desirable'
Mill
People desire their own happiness
