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J. S. Mill and the Understanding on the Qualitative Differences Between Pleasures

Kim Eun Mi 1

1중앙대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to point out the problem of understanding para. 5 of ch. 2 of Utilitarianism and to seek the possibility of a new understanding. There are two ways to understand the quality of pleasure or test it: the standard view by Jonathan Riley and the non-standard view by Christoph Schmidt-Petri. The standard view says that quality always overcomes quantity in evaluating pleasures. That is, higher pleasure ought to be chosen over lower pleasure regardless of quantity. This means that there is essentially a superior pleasure in quality and there is a distinct hierarchy of pleasures. The non-standard view says if some pleasure is chosen over another available in larger quantity, then we are justified in saying that the pleasure chosen is of higher pleasure than the other. But neither of them did showed John Stuart Mill's intention. What is Mill's view about the distinctions of quality? I aim to examine the possibility of a new understanding based on Saunders(Ben Saunders)'s theory.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.