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J. S. Mill's conception of utility

J. S. Mill's conception of utility
J. S. Mill's conception of utility
Mill's most famous departure from Bentham is his distinction between higher and lower pleasures. This article argues that quality and quantity are independent and irreducible properties of pleasures that may be traded off against each other – as in the case of quality and quantity of wine. I argue that Mill is not committed to thinking that there are two distinct kinds of pleasure, or that ‘higher pleasures’ lexically dominate lower ones, and that the distinction is compatible with hedonism. I show how this interpretation not only makes sense of Mill but allows him to respond to famous problems, such as Crisp's Haydn and the oyster and Nozick's experience machine.
0953-8208
52-69
Saunders, Ben
aed7ba9f-f519-4bbf-a554-db25b684037d
Saunders, Ben
aed7ba9f-f519-4bbf-a554-db25b684037d

Saunders, Ben (2010) J. S. Mill's conception of utility. Utilitas, 22 (1), 52-69. (doi:10.1017/S0953820809990380).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Mill's most famous departure from Bentham is his distinction between higher and lower pleasures. This article argues that quality and quantity are independent and irreducible properties of pleasures that may be traded off against each other – as in the case of quality and quantity of wine. I argue that Mill is not committed to thinking that there are two distinct kinds of pleasure, or that ‘higher pleasures’ lexically dominate lower ones, and that the distinction is compatible with hedonism. I show how this interpretation not only makes sense of Mill but allows him to respond to famous problems, such as Crisp's Haydn and the oyster and Nozick's experience machine.

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Published date: 2010
Organisations: Faculty of Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences

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Local EPrints ID: 370355
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/370355
DOI: doi:10.1017/S0953820809990380
ISSN: 0953-8208
PURE UUID: 9a9bdcaa-7c0e-42cc-a7e8-453f3023a9bd
ORCID for Ben Saunders: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5147-6397

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Date deposited: 22 Oct 2014 11:29
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:50

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Author: Ben Saunders ORCID iD

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