Mill Vs. Bentham
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In what ways did John Stuart Mills version of utilitarianism differ from that of Jeremy Bentham? Which do you consider preferable?
The Cambridge International Dictionary of English defines utilitarianism as “the system of thought which states that the best action or decision in a particular situation is the one which most benefits the most people”. This is the main idea of the system of thought and it is from this the beliefs and opinions of John Stuart Mill (1806 – 1873), Jeremy Bentham (1748 – 1832) and other early utilitarians were developed. Jeremy Bentham, a friend of J. S. Mills father and the mentor of J. S. Mill, is usually considered the founder of British utilitarianism. J. S. Mill adapted Benthams ideas and philosophies to meet the criticism utilitarianism encountered in Victorian times, expressing his version in the essays Utilitarianism (1861) and On Liberty (1859). Although the differences between the ideas of Bentham and Mill are very few, Mills adjustments are important and greatly alter the basic foundations of the system.
To fully understand the origins of the ideas and opinions expressed by Mill and Bentham it is useful to examine their backgrounds and influences. John Stuart Mill was the eldest son of James Mill, a British historian, economist and philosopher. He was educated entirely by his father, who was a strict disciplinarian, and by the age of 10 had read all the Latin and Greek authors commonly read in the schools and universities of the time. His main reading, however, was history and by this age had read the whole works of the historian Herodotus, and was acquainted with the satirist Lucian, the historian of philosophy Diogenes LaД«rtius, the Athenian writer and educational theorist Isocrates, and six dialogues of Plato. While the training of the young Mill has aroused amazement and criticism, its most significant effect was the close association it encouraged with his father, James Mill. As a boy, he often spent much time in his fathers study and regularly accompanied his father on his walks. Inevitably he acquired many of his fathers opinions and his way of defending them. He did not, however, receive this information passively as the duty of collecting and weighing evidence was impressed on him at every turn from a young age. Mill accepted this strict form of education up until he was around the age of 20 when he went though a Ðmental crisis and became apathetic about utilitarianism. He continued to intellectually believe in the legitimacy of the ideas of utilitarianism but was no longer interested in promoting it. He believed that his fathers method of education was too analytical and ignored the development of his emotional self. He spent time reading literature, particularly poetry, of the Romantic period to cultivate the emotions that had been neglected by his fathers style of education. He became less of a Ðmanufactured man, produced to his fathers specification, and began to form his own ideas, considering his fathers views to be narrow and doctrinaire. After this, Mill decided to develop a new version of utilitarianism that did not conflict with his newly discovered attitude.
Jeremy Bentham was born into a wealthy Tory family and was educated at Westminster school and Queens College, Oxford. He trained as a lawyer and was called to the bar in 1769. He soon, however became disillusioned with the law, especially after hearing the lectures of the leading authority of the day, Sir William Blackstone (1723-80). Instead of practising the law, he decided to write about it, and he spent his life criticising the existing law and suggesting ways for its improvement. Bentham was closely associated with the doctrine of Utilitarianism and the principle of `the greatest happiness of the greatest number but this was only the starting point of a radical critique of society, through which he aimed to evaluate the usefulness of existing institutions, practices and beliefs. He lived through a time of major social, political and economic change and the industrial revolution, with the massive economic and social shifts that were caused by it, the rise of the middle class, revolutions in France and America are all reflected in his considerations on existing institutions. He spent much of his time engaged in intense study, sometimes eight to twelve hours a day and by his death he had written tens of thousands manuscripts on many subjects. In 1808 he met James Mill, John Stuart Mills father, who fully supported Benthams ideas on utilitarianism. Bentham founded a group of intellectual philosophers called the ÐPhilosophical Radicals, or simply the ÐBenthamites, of which James Mill became a prominent member along with David Ricardo, George Grote and John Austin. Bentham and James Mill founded the Westminster Review, which aimed to propagate Radical views and to oppose the Whig supporting Edinburgh Review and the Tory Quarterly Review. It was in this publication that much of J. S. Mills work was presented, although he also wrote for other newspapers and journals including the Morning Chronicle and Parliamentary History & Review. By the 1820s Bentham had become a widely respected figure both in Britain and other parts of the world and many of his ideas continue to be at the centre of academic debate.
Benthams work is still considered to be the true basis of the utilitarian philosophy. His most influential works, in terms of how much they influenced the Victorian reform, are An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789), widely considered as the founding document of British utilitarianism, and Constitutional Code (1830-41) He believed that “Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do as well as to determine what we shall do”(p. 225)#. He believed that one situation is better than another if it involves a greater amount of pleasure than pain, or a lesser amount of pain than pleasure. The more pleasure there is in the world, the better, and Bentham did not care how this pleasure is produced. He notoriously said that Ðpushpin, a simple pub game, was as valuable as poetry as long as they provide equal amounts of pleasure. Along with this idea of pleasure and pain as sovereign masters Bentham introduced what he called the principle of utility. This principle is based on the fact that “every action should be judged right or wrong according to how far it tends to promote or damage the happiness of the community” (p. 29)#. Basically, the morally right action should be determined by judging which will