‘The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.’
Utilitarianism is John Stuart Mill’s classic exposition and defence of utilitarian ethics. Believing happiness to be the only intrinsic good, Mill posits that pursuing happiness is the only thing people should do for its own sake. A heavily debated book, it nonetheless popularised utilitarian ethics and remains influential to this day.
John Stuart Mill was a British philosopher, political economist, and politician. He is one of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism and made important contributions to social theory, political theory, and classical economics.