An Introduction to Mill's Utilitarian Ethics

Abstract

John Stuart Mill was the leading British philosopher of the nineteenth century and his famous essay Utilitarianism is the most influential statement of the philosophy of utilitarianism: that actions, laws, policies and institutions are to be evaluated by their utility or contribution to good or bad consequences. Henry West has written the most up-to-date and user-friendly introduction to utilitarianism available. The book serves as both a commentary to and interpretation of the text. It also defends Mill against his critics. An appendix reviews in detail the structure and arguments of Utilitarianism. This book is primarily intended as a textbook for students in philosophy assigned to read Utilitarianism but it should also prove helpful to students and professionals in other fields such as political science, history and economics.

What motivates managers to pursue corporate responsibility? a survey among key stakeholders

“…Finally, with David Hume, there is also a strong consequentialist tradition in ethics, where the consequence of action, rather than virtue or rule‐following, is the core issue (West, 2003). We form beliefs about future consequences of actions through reasoning, but (moral) feeling is the ultimate basis for (ethical) choice.…”

Exercise Is a Many-Splendored Thing, but for Some It Does Not Feel So Splendid: Staging a Resurgence of Hedonistic Ideas in the Quest to Understand Exercise Behavior

“…For Claude Adrien Helvetius (1715-1771), pleasure and pain are the ruling motives of human behavior: "pleasure and pain are, and always HEDONISTIC IDEAS TO UNDERSTAND EXERCISE I~W~~: fWill be, the only principles of action in man" i~ho had taken hedonism to be a "doctrine worthy f~:i'~?rly of swine" by emphasizing that there are qual-:~}~{~}t~tive differences berween pleasures, with those 1i~~f:eleasures that involve distinctively human faculties, t~f~I~.~ch as the intellect, the feelings, the imagination, '~}iM:.~d the moral sentiments, being superior to others~j~f (West, 2004). ,~~~:jt.…”

On The Experience Of The Arab Open University With The Standard Deviation Method

“…This defense is utilitarian in tone (West, 2003). The rationale behind the institutionalization of SDM by the AOU higher management stemmed from a sense of responsibility to do good to the students.…”