1 of 6 in Chapter I: GENERAL REMARKS1 of 99 in work
Now entering Chapter I: GENERAL REMARKS
Morality's Unresolved War
John Stewart Mill
Utilitarianism

The author laments the lack of progress in philosophy regarding the 'summum bonum,' noting that the foundation of morality remains a subject of intense and unresolved debate despite centuries of inquiry.

...NBERG EBOOK UTILITARIANISM *** UTILITARIANISM BY JOHN STUART MILL REPRINTED FROM 'FRASER'S MAGAZINE' SEVENTH EDITION LONDON LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 1879 CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. GENERAL REMARKS CHAPTER II. WHAT UTILITARIANISM IS CHAPTER III. OF THE ULTIMATE SANCTION OF THE PRINCIPLE OF UTILITY CHAPTER IV. OF WHAT SORT OF PROOF THE PRINCIPLE OF UTILITY IS SUSCEPTIBLE CHAPTER V. OF THE CONNEXION BETWEEN JUSTICE AND UTILITY UTILITARIANISM. CHAPTER I. GENERAL REMARKS.
There are few circumstances among those which make up the present condition of human knowledge, more unlike what might have been expected, or more significant of the backward state in which speculation on the most important subjects still lingers, than the little progress which has been made in the decision of the controversy respecting the criterion of right and wrong. From the dawn of philosophy, the question concerning the summum bonum, or, what is the same thing, concerning the foundation of morality, has been accounted the main problem in speculative thought, has occupied the most gifted intellects, and divided them into sects and schools, carrying on a vigorous warfare against one another.
And after more than two thousand years the same discussions continue, philosophers are still ranged under the same contending banners, and neither thinkers nor mankind at large seem nearer to being unanimous on the subject, than when the youth Socrates listened to the old Protagoras, and asserted (if Plato's dialogue be grounded on a real conversation) the theory of utilitarianism against the popular morality of the so-called sophist. It is true that similar confusion and uncertainty, and in s...
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2 of 6 in Chapter I: GENERAL REMARKS2 of 99 in work
Roots of Science
John Stewart Mill
Utilitarianism

Mill suggests that while scientific first principles are often discovered last, a practical art like morality must be defined by its end goal, as all rules of action derive their character from the purpose they serve.

...t the detailed doctrines of a science are not usually deduced from, nor depend for their evidence upon, what are called its first principles. Were it not so, there would be no science more precarious, or whose conclusions were more insufficiently made out, than algebra; which derives none of its certainty from what are commonly taught to learners as its elements, since these, as laid down by some of its most eminent teachers, are as full of fictions as English law, and of mysteries as theology.
The truths which are ultimately accepted as the first principles of a science, are really the last results of metaphysical analysis, practised on the elementary notions with which the science is conversant; and their relation to the science is not that of foundations to an edifice, but of roots to a tree, which may perform their office equally well though they be never dug down to and exposed to light. But though in science the particular truths precede the general theory, the contrary might be expected to be the case with a practical art, such as morals or legislation. All action is for the sake of some end, and rules of action, it seems…
When we engage in a pursuit, a clear and precise conception of what we are pursuing would seem to be the first thing we need, instead of the last we are to look forward to. A test of right and wrong must be the means, one would think, of ascertaining what is right or wrong, and not a consequence of having already ascertained it. The difficulty is not avoided by having recourse to the popular theory of a natural faculty, a sense or instinct, informing us of right and wrong. For--besides that th...
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3 of 6 in Chapter I: GENERAL REMARKS3 of 99 in work
Morality's Missing First Principle
John Stewart Mill
Utilitarianism

Mill critiques both intuitive and inductive schools of ethics for failing to clearly define or reduce their moral precepts to a single, authoritative first principle of obligation.

...he necessity of general laws. They both agree that the morality of an individual action is not a question of direct perception, but of the application of a law to an individual case. They recognise also, to a great extent, the same moral laws; but differ as to their evidence, and the source from which they derive their authority. According to the one opinion, the principles of morals are evident à priori, requiring nothing to command assent, except that the meaning of the terms be understood.
According to the other doctrine, right and wrong, as well as truth and falsehood, are questions of observation and experience. But both hold equally that morality must be deduced from principles; and the intuitive school affirm as strongly as the inductive, that there is a science of morals. Yet they seldom attempt to make out a list of the à priori principles which are to serve as the premises of the science; still more rarely do they make any effort to reduce those various principles to one first principle, or common ground of obligation. They either assume the ordinary precepts of morals as of à priori authority, or they lay down as…
Yet to support their pretensions there ought either to be some one fundamental principle or law, at the root of all morality, or if there be several, there should be a determinate order of precedence among them; and the one principle, or the rule for deciding between the various principles when they conflict, ought to be self-evident. To inquire how far the bad effects of this deficiency have been mitigated in practice, or to what extent the moral beliefs of mankind have been vitiated or made...
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