Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Is Mill a Rule Utilitarian? Essay -- essays research papers
D. Vinson Is Mill A Rule Utilitarian?      I don’t believe so. I must begin my argument with two definitions and one assumption. First, Rule Utilitarianism states that right action is defined by whether or not a given action is an instance of a moral rule that tends to maximize utility. Second, Act Utilitarianism states that right action is defined by whether or not a given action maximizes utility. Finally, the Utilitarian Principle holds that right actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. I hope that my assumption will be granted as it is taken verbatim from the text. With these notions as a starting point I believe that I can now show Mill to be an act-utilitarian.      The case for Mill being a rule-utilitarian is a strong one. Mill certainly relies heavily on rules in his treatise and argues that they are useful to the point of necessity.      To consider the rules of morality as improvable is one thing;      to pass over the intermediate generalizations entirely, and to      endeavor to test each individual action directly by the first      principle is another.      Further on in the text, Mill even seems to minimize the importance of the first principle by declaring that it is only useful for settling disputes ove...
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