Question

Mill considers the complaint that utilitarianism is flawed because it asks too much of people, that it is too hard to figure out what to do or that what it asks is too unrealistic. Elaborate on those alleged problems. How does Mill respond to these criticisms? Evaluate his reasoning.

Answer 1

John Mill has classified utilitarianism theory as impractical as asking people about happiness and measuring them will vary for all people depending on their preferences. Good for some may be bad for someone else. Secondly questions asked are unquantifiable and unreasonable which makes theory ineffective. Measuring the responses using empirical formula also gives variation and is flawed.

For example definition of happiness is different for all people and usually varies depending on situation and hence cannot be quantified aswell.

Hence these alleged problems cause the theory to become ineffective .