1. John Stuart Mill. “Utilitarianism,” in Steven M. Cahn’s Political Philosophy, pp. 741-746. A. Identify in Mill’s text “Utilitarianism” and cite three central assertions/claims; B. Find in the text and cite one reason given by Mill in support of each of his three assertions. C. Formulate your own position on the issue addressed in each assertion and give reasons in support of your position. According to (Mill 741) the estimation of pleasure should be based on quantity alone. He states that the difference in quality in pleasure is when two pleasures are involved and one is given more preference than the other regardless of the moral obligations involved it is the more preferred pleasure. Pleasure is thus determined by quantity at any given time, one will have more preference of one over the other and there will always be the most preferred pleasure. Mill also states that it is the business of ethics to guide people to serve the general interest of the society. It is also necessary to understand that there is no ethical standard which states that what we should be guided by a feeling of duty because most of our actions are done from our motives. According to (Mill 743), motives are not directly connected to the morality of an action. If a person saves a drowning child does it because it is morally right whether is motive was to be rewarded or not. I also feel that betraying a friend makes one feel guilty even though he benefited from such action. Critics of utilitarianism state that before an action, there is no time to calculate the expected general happiness associated with an activity. The critics feel that a Christian does not have time to read the new and old testament when they are about to make a decision. But according to (Mill 744), there has been a humble time were human beings have learned how to make decisions based on past experience and as per the morals of the land. I feel that people always have a premeditated time which guides them in making a decision. For example, if a person decides to steal from his neighbor for the first time, he will think of the possible damage and injuries he will create to his neighbor. I feel that people are always guided by the conscious to do the right. Even if they end up doing wrong, there is that inner spirit which tells a person that what you did was wrong. 2 
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