Utilitarianism on Liberty Essay on Bentham - Couverture souple

Mill, John Stuart

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0452009707 ISBN 13 : 9780452009707

Editeur : New Amer Library, 1991

Synopsis

Book by Mill John Stuart Bentham Jeremy

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure. To give a clear view of the moral standard set up by the theory, much more requires to be said; in particular, what things it includes in the ideas of pain and pleasure; and to what extent this is left an open question. But these supplementary explanations do not affect the theory of life on which this theory of morality is grounded-namely, that pleasure, and freedom from pain, are the only things desirable as ends; and that all desirable things (which are as numerous in the utilitarian as in any other scheme) are desirable either for the pleasure inherent in themselves, or as means to the promotion of pleasure and the prevention of pain. Now, such a theory of life excites in many minds, and among them in some of the most estimable in feeling and purpose, inveterate dislike. To suppose that life has (as they express it) no higher end than pleasure-no better and nobler object of desire and pursuit-they designate as utterly mean and grovelling; as a doctrine worthy only of swine, to whom the followers of Epicurus were, at a very early period, contemptuously likened; and modern holders of the doctrine are occasionally made the subject of equally polite comparisons by its German, French, and English assailants.

Présentation de l'éditeur

Utilitarianism, by British philosopher John Stuart Mill, is one of his most influential works and is a philosophical defense of utilitarian ethical theory. John Stuart Mill, (1806-1873), worked for the East India Co. helped run Colonial India from England. In Utilitarianism, Mill develops a theory of morality and argues against the idea of intuitive morality. Utilitarianism is a philosophical defense of utilitarianism in ethics. The essay first appeared as a series of three articles published in Fraser's Magazine in 1861; the articles were collected and reprinted as a single book in 1863. It went through four editions during Mill's lifetime with minor additions and revisions. Although Mill includes discussions of utilitarian ethical principles in other works such as On Liberty and The Subjection of Women, Utilitarianism contains Mill's only major discussion of the fundamental grounds for utilitarian ethical theory. Recommended reading for anyone interested in philosophy, political science, and history.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: New Amer Library
• Date d'édition: 1991
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0452009707
• ISBN 13: 9780452009707
• Reliure: Poche
• Nombre de pages: 352
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible