Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism (1863) by John Stuart Mill defends the principle that actions are right in proportion as they promote happiness — “the greatest happiness for the greatest number.”
Core Idea
Mill refines Bentham’s hedonism by distinguishing higher (intellectual, moral) from lower (bodily) pleasures, arguing quality matters as well as quantity. He answers common objections and grounds morality in consequences for aggregate well-being rather than in rules or intentions.
Why It Matters for Critical Thinking
The clearest statement of outcome-based reasoning: it trains you to evaluate decisions by their actual consequences for everyone affected, and pairs instructively against Kant’s rule-based Groundwork.