John Stuart Mill further developed the utilitarian approach that has shaped the ethical practices in our society. Utilitarianism is a moral and ethical theory that tries to determine whether certain actions are ethically right or wrong by looking at the overall effect or outcome of those actions. Utilitarianism denotes that the most ethical decision involves one with outcomes of the greatest good for the greatest number of individuals. Utilitarianism holds that morality and ethics have the sole purpose of making life more meaningful and better by increasing pleasure and happiness and reducing pain and unhappiness. Such is because Mill believed that all human actions are inspired by pain and pleasure. Moreover, Mill stated that one had to look at the quality of pleasure, where he categorized pleasures into higher pleasures, which only could be acquired by educated people as it required the mind, and lower pleasures, which were bodily pleasures.
In the advancement of ethical policies, Mill’s utilitarianism is essential as policy providers use it to determine whether a certain practice will be ethical by weighing its consequences rather than its intent. Moreover, Mill’s utilitarianism is used to determine when a practice is ethically wrong. If the practice harms the greater number of targeted people, then the practice is ethically wrong (IEP, n.d). Also, ethical practices such as disease prevention apply a part of utilitarianism, which holds that prevention of harm to the greatest number of individuals is another way of increasing the greater good to the greatest number of people (IEP, n.d).
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Mill’s utilitarianism challenges many ethical policy developers to assess these policies' consequences by weighing those practices by the utility of their consequences. Mill came up with rule utilitarianism whereby a practice is only ethical if it falls within the confines of a justified moral rule and whether the practice's inclusion will add more utility than other possible ethical practices.
Reference
IEP. (n.d.). Utilitarianism, act and rule . Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy | An encyclopedia of philosophy articles written by professional philosophers. https://iep.utm.edu/util-a-r/
