John Stuart Mill is often quoted as having said, “Human nature is capable of sincerity and truth; of being interested in other people’s happiness, even in their errors, without having the reverse or motives.” Although often misunderstood, this was a profound and important statement. John Stuart Mill made these statements many times, as he confronted the prevalent evils of his day. utilitarian’sin, who believed that all persons have the same moral and immoral purposes in life, often accused Mill as an egotist who simply wanted to impose his personal beliefs on society. However, Mill’s defenders pointed out that he sincerely wished to promote the happiness of all, while respecting individual freedom.
John Stuart Mill was a thinker and economist, best known for his two major works: On Liberty and On Practical Politics. In his later years, he expanded upon these ideas and became one of the most prolific British philosophers, essayist, pamphleteer, and political philosopher of the period. Utilitarians, who believed that all persons have the same moral and immoral purposes in life, often accused John Stuart Mill as a utilitarian. However, his defenders pointed out that he sincerely wished to promote the happiness of all, while respecting individual freedom.
It may be simple to understand why utilitarianism ranks as a favorite philosophy among historians of the time. Utilists believe that individuals derive satisfaction from using physical tools to achieve a desirable end. According to the utilitarianism principle, pain and suffering are merely unavoidable external circumstances which we can avoid by using available technology. For example, by using a hammer to hit nails into wood, a child may learn to avoid hurting another person by using the hammer, although he or she may accidentally injure someone.
Desiring to reduce cruelty to animals, utilitarianism also advocates animal rights. John Stuart Mill was a utilitarian and opponent of slavery. In fact, many of his abolitionist writings were based on utilitarianism. According to biographies on John Stuart Mill, however, this is not the case, since utilitarianism was a theory that had been around long before the time of John Stuart Mill.
Proponents of utilitarianism believe that, since life is intended to pass uneventfully, humans have a right to choose how they will live their lives. According to some proponents of utilitarianism, the philosophy offers the only theory that truly satisfies the desire of individuals to live meaningful lives. John Stuart Mill was a utilitarian and was often referred to as a “child prodigy.”
The British philosopher and intellect that gave us “the master key” is also one of the fathers of naturalism. Descartes argued that knowledge is an error because it is self-defeating. According to Descartes, knowledge leads to error because it is based on experience, which is not an eternal reality but merely a modification of the immediate situation in which knowledge is attained. For John Stuart Mill, Descartes went too far when he denied the possibility of knowledge in its ultimate form. Descartes’s principle, that knowledge is vain, is a principle that has been incorporated into numerous theories of naturalism, including Utilitism.
Descartes’s ideas are still controversial today. Some philosophers support Descartes’ philosophy while dismissing utilitarianism as absurd. Another issue regarding Descartes’ role in the development of philosophy is that some believe he made contributions to naturalism that have been criticized by modern scholars. Descartes argued that there is no supreme being or deity because everything is part of a larger system of cause and effect. A factor that influenced Descartes’ concept of practical reasoning is that he believed reasoning was performed by animals in nature.
John Stuart Mill, the thinker and pamphlets of the English essay writing period, gave much influence to the thinking of his countrymen. Descartes and his compatriots were able to overcome skepticism concerning materialism, or the belief that all things are made up of matter. They laid the foundation for a more scientific outlook in philosophy by means of the new technique of deductive reasoning. John Stuart Mill’s former philosophy of utilitarianism, or the doctrine that man is the instrument of his fate, is now used as a basis for some modern philosophies of religion.