Research Paper on:
Utilitarianism: The Views of Bentham and Mill Compared

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things they feel they must do. When the subject of hedonism or pleasure arises, many scoff at the notion, thinking that pleasure is a selfish indulgence. But many miss the  point. Pleasure, as Mill suggests, is not necessarily associated with a reckless abandon of principles, but rather goes to goodness and attaining pleasure in doing things that will provide lasting  peace and happiness. Bentham, on the other hand, distinguishes pleasure from pain and sees happiness as fleeting. Clearly, while both authors support the same philosophy, there are fundamental differences which  render their respective theories quite distinct. Bentham suggested that the consequences of every action people perform be counted and this would determine whether an action is either morally  right or wrong ("Utilitarianism," 2005). That aspect of Benthams theory is considered to be act utilitarianism ("Utilitarianism," 2005). Rule utilitarianism on the other hand suggests that the rules are  most important. For example, a lying promise is always wrong even if a life is at stake. In any event, Bentham early on proposed that people acknowledge the pleasure  and pain that results from their actions ("Utilitarianism," 2005). For Bentham, it is pleasure and pain which are the only consequences that matters and this aspect of Benthams theory  is called hedonistic utilitarianism ("Utilitarianism," 2005). Bentham (1988) further specifies forms of pleasure as being wealth, sense, skill, amity, power, having a good name, piety, benevolence, malevolence, memory, imagination,  expectation, association, and relief. John Stuart Mill had another point of view. In his well known work called Utilitarianism, Mill (1861) goes into moral theory and suggests that the  schools of thought go to intuitive and inductive reasoning, for which the author embraces the latter. To Mill, happiness is the substance to be measured to determine whether or not