4. John Stuart Mill (1806- 1873). — The untilitarian-
ism of Mill differs from that of Bentham, chiefly in two
respects — Mill is more altruistic, and he considers the
quality of pleasures as well as the quantity. Pain, as the
negative of pleasure, he dismisses from the discussion
of utilitarianism, as understood whenever implied.
Mill holds that each man desires pleasure; that the
strength of the desire varies directly as the magnitude
of the pleasure; that the only proof that anything is de-
sirable is that people actually desire it; that each per-
son's happiness is desirable to himself; that each individ-
ual, whose moral nature is properly cultivated, desires
the general happiness; that he has a feeling of unity with
his fellow-creatures, which makes it natural that his aims
should be in harmony with theirs.
