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Mill identifies himself as a utilitarian, in the tradition of his father and Jeremy Bentham, but departs from and modifies their doctrines in many ways. One of his most radical revisions is the distinction between higher and lower pleasures, which I attempt to make sense of here. What follows is merely an attempt at interpretation; I endeavour to show that my reading can be supported by Mill's texts, but concede that other remarks may seem to contradict the reading offered here. Ultimately, the truth may be that Mill never perfectly reconciled his Benthamite and non-Benthamite influences into a fully consistent system.1
I.
TERMINOLOGY
I take utilitarianism to be that form of consequentialism that aims to promote (usually, but not necessarily, to maximize) happiness. So defined, utilitarianisms form a subset of consequentialist theories, but there is room for variation not only between, for example, act-, rule- and motive-utilitarianisms but also different conceptions of happiness or well-being. (By 'happiness' I intend a place-holder, like the Greek eudaimonia, which is equivalent to well-being and not biased towards hedonistic interpretations.)
The three most prominent theories of well-being, each itself admitting numerous variations, are (i) hedonistic theories, (ii) desire-satisfaction theories and (iii) objective-list (perfectionist) theories. Thus it is possible to be, for example, a hedonistic utilitarian - like Bentham - or a utilitarian subscribing to a desire-satisfaction view, as suggested by Ayer,2 or a perfectionist about individual well-being. To say that Mill is a utilitarian therefore leaves open his understanding of pleasure and happiness.
II.
HEDONISM AND PLEASURE
Mill explicitly associates himself with Bentham's hedonism, declaring that 'By happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain'.3 I argue that this is merely verbal agreement, for Mill actually had a very different understanding of pleasure from Bentham's, even before introducing his famous distinction between higher and lower pleasures.
For Bentham, the principle of utility or greatest happiness meant promoting the balance of pleasures over pains. Bentham understood pleasures and pains as mental states or, as he puts it, 'interesting perceptions'4 which are distinct from their causes.5 Thus it is, for example, that he distinguishes four sources of pleasure - physical, political, moral and religious6 - and...