The Study Of Mill’s Happiness Theory

John Start mill’s happiness theory ethics occupies very important position in the human intellectual history. By studying the Mill’s happiness, we can have a good foundation and perspective when we research the happiness theory. In this paper, it will expand through researching the basic theory of Mill’s happiness, the main matter of Mill’s happiness theory as well as the reflection of the Mill’s happiness. The article is divided into three parts:The first part:the basis theory of Mill’s happiness. The basis theory of Mill’s happiness is the ancient Greek theory of perceptual happiness theory, modern empiricism and Bentham hedonism happiness theory. The theory of perceptual happiness adhere to the pursuing of sensual, avoiding sensory pain, human nature is tending to happiness and avoiding bitterness, so pursuing happiness is to obey the nature; recent empirical theory of happiness is as people happy experience as original starting point of all value, happiness is the original good, behavior results as the standards of behavior evaluation; Bentham hedonism happiness think happiness is to obtain joy, the utilitarian principle is to increase happiness, less pain, and put forward the calculation of pain and pleasure. Mill’s happiness theory lays in tending happiness and avoiding bitterness, self-interest, and inherits and develops the Bentham theory of utilitarianism happiness.The second part:the main matter of Mill’s happiness theory. The path of the putting forward of Mill’s happiness theory, the exceed of the dilemma of Bentham’s happiness theory, namely the inner defect of utilitarianism, perceptual joy dominance all behavior; Kant criticize Bentham’s thought from external utilitarianism, and thinks happiness lays in the perceptual instinctive preferences have no value, such happiness has nothing to do with morality,can not become the standard of judging; beyond Bentham and responding to Kant’s critique, Mill’s happiness theory is put forward. The contents include:distinguishing the quality and quantity, putting forward the theory of personality, happiness contains personal happiness and social happiness, happiness is good, is the standard for judging behavior which is right or wrong, happiness can be desired untimely from the happiness which includes happiness itself and means of retaining happiness,happiness as a whole is desired; the kernel of Mill’s happiness theory-the utilitarian principle, that is the greatest happiness of most people. The argument of Mill’s happiness of-the possibility of the realizing of happiness theory, the end is to clarify the relationship between freedoms, virtue, conscience, justice and happiness to demonstrate the possibility of the desire and asking for happiness. Freedom’s intrinsic value is the development of personality, which leads to more good, promotes social progress and realizes the unity of personal happiness with social happiness; virtue is a means of happiness; conscience is the inner binding of happiness with social happiness; justice is the guarantee of the autonomous right of obtaining happiness.The third part is about the reflection of Mill’s happiness theory. Mill’s happiness theory has important theoretical value, but the defect itself is to ignore the interests of the minority and super-reality. The outlet of the Mill’s happiness theory resort to the theory of Kant’s obligations under the principle of ration and autonomy, the reasonable regulations of Rawls’s justice principle and constrains of Nozick’s right theory.