Philosophy Study Guide for Exam 1
1. Describe Mill's Theory of the good and assess whether or not it is adequate. Include the following points:
a. According to Mill, the only thing valuable, the only thing that makes human life worthwhile is happiness (pleasure, absence of pain), in general, not per individual. This applies to everyone, all of sentient creation, because animals can feel pleasure and pain too.
b. The fist objection states that, this is "a doctrine only worthy of swine." This means that if we determine what action to take based solely on promoting happiness, or pleasures that we will be we just as bad as beasts, or lower animals. This may look like a big problem for Mill's theory of the good because it seems as if there isn't much more that makes human life valuable than the mere pleasures of say eating, drinking, sex
But this objection has too narrow an understanding of pleasure.
c. Mill's responds to this objection by saying that the pleasures of......
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