Abstract

Mill appears to subscribe to the hedonist view that happiness consists in pleasure and the absence of pain, yet he departs from the Benthamite tradition by suggesting that some pleasures are more valuable than others. I suggest that the value of a pleasure depends on its contribution to happiness. Other things equal, more pleasure is more conducive to happiness than less, but some pleasures are also more valuable than others, quantity being equal. These more valuable pleasures are those that Mill describes as higher in quality. Happiness, then, is a function of quality and quantity of pleasures (with quantity itself being a function of intensity and duration). Quality is distinct from quantity and might be traded off against it, since a great quantity of lower quality pleasure can produce more happiness than a smaller quantity of higher quality pleasure, but it is not a good independent of pleasure.