Actions are right from "summary" of Utilitarianism and On Liberty by John Stuart Mill
The principle of utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, asserts that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure and the absence of pain; unhappiness, pain and the privation of pleasure. Utilitarianism maintains that the ultimate end, with reference to and for the sake of which all other things are desirable, is an existence exempt as far as possible from pain, and as rich as possible in enjoyments, both in point of quantity and quality. The test of right action is the balance of pleasure over pain, with the greatest happiness of the greatest number as the criterion of right. The idea of utility regards it as the ultimate appeal on all ethical questions; but it does not follow that it is the only means of distinguishing right from wrong. The utilitarian standard is not the agent's own greatest happiness, but the greatest amount of happiness altogether; and if it is consistent with this, is right; otherwise wrong. Utilitarianism does not deny that people's happiness is a good to each individual; but it maintains that the good of the individual is a good to the community, and that the happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morals and legislation. The happiness which forms the utilitarian standard of what is right in conduct is not the agent's happiness, but the happiness of all concerned.- It is not the individual's own happiness that is the key consideration, but the general happiness of all those affected by the action. The principle of utility recognizes the importance of consequences in moral decision-making, emphasizing the overall well-being of society as the ultimate aim of ethical behavior. By promoting the greatest happiness for the greatest number, actions are deemed right within the utilitarian framework.
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