I decided to go more in depth with my investigation of John Stuart Mill, since he was the philosopher that I most closely identify with. His major impact on philosophy came as he aided with the early evolution of utilitarianism in the mid 1800s. Mill was a child prodigy, fluent in Greek by age three, Latin by age five, and was an accomplished economist by 16. He was educated by his father with the aid of his friend Jeremy Bentham. Through them, Mill developed a background in utilitarianism - and began thinking like a philosopher.
Utilitarianism is the theory of ethics that describes the most moral decision as the one that maximizes utility. Mill strongly fostered this belief, and even went on later in his adult life to write System of Logic (1843), which described the way one should go about deduction in the most efficient manner. It also highlighted the "proper" methods of science and their applicability to various social and political situations. This book ignited worldwide interest in utilitarianism, and a great reason why is it did an exceptional job of allowing the general (unphilosophic) public to understand Mill's principals.
After digging deeper into Mill's philosophy, I do tend to agree with the majority of his main points. I feel that the most responsible way to approach an issue is to maximize the amount of utility (usefulness) it can provide. I also believe that, in most cases, the "ends justify the means"; this is a popular opinion of utilitarian philosophers, as utilitarianism is a branch of consequentialism.
I will admit, when we took the test in class, I was a bit dubious about how accurate it could really be. But after really looking into Mill's main ideas and philosophies, I am pleasantly surprised at how well they represent my own opinions. I was disappointed that Mill was not selected by the class to research, but he was somewhat represented by Bentham, so at least that utilitarian mind set is still present.
Delaney,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about your research into Mills. I know that Will also had a utilitarianist as his most similar philosopher. It seems like there might be a bit of a connection between political ideology and philosophy. Without making any stereotypes, it seems like social liberals might agree more strongly with the work of Nel Noddings than someone who is conservative. It would be interesting to do a survey of the class politically and then compare these results to those from our philosopher's quiz. I suspect there would be a spectrum that reflects the variety of political ideologies.
Delaney,
ReplyDeleteI appreciated the way you synthesized your research on Mills. The points you made about Utilitarianism did a really good job of highlighting the belief systems of this philosophy, and I felt that I learned a lot from reading this. A fact that particularly interested me was that utilitarianism was a branch of consequentialism, it is obvious how the are connected, but not something I had prior knowledge of. Great job, thanks for sharing!