tailieunhanh - Utilitarianism

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. | feedboo is Utilitarianism Mill John Stuart Published 1863 Categorie s Non-Fiction Philosophy Source Feedbooks 1 About Mill John Stuart Mill 20 May 1806 - 8 May 1873 English philosopher political theorist political economist civil servant and Member of Parliament was an influential liberal thinker of the 19th century whose works on liberty justified freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control. He was an exponent of utilitarianism an ethical theory developed by Jeremy Bentham although his conception of it was very different from Bentham s. He clearly set forth the premises of the scientific method. Also available on Feedbooks for Mill On Liberty 1859 Note This book is brought to you by Feedbooks http Strictly for personal use do not use this file for commercial purposes. 2 Chapter 1 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 .