e requires to be said; in particular, what things it in- cludes in the ideas of pain and pleasure; and to what extent this is left an open question. But these supplementary explanations do not affect the theory of life on which this theory of morality is grounded namely, that pleasure, and freedom from pain, are the only things desirable as ends; and that all desirable things (which are as numerous in the utilitarian as in any other scheme) are desirable either for the pleasure inherent in themselves, or as means to the promotion of pleasure and the prevention of pain. (Pojman 917) Mill seems to think that happiness comes from the desire to be completely pain-free.He says that happiness comes from selfishly fulfilled desires. The desire to attain onlypleasure is ludicrous; for a person to achieve a completely pain-free existence isimpossible. To gain complete happiness would leave them with no motivation to achieveanything else. Human nature is such that if a person achieved pure happiness, that personwould then become dissatisfied with that happiness, causing them to, once again, beunhappy. A person will always experience something contrary to pleasure, leaving them withsome type of pain. In my opinion, people seem to be happy for many different reasons at different times intheir lives. I feel that for most people, happiness is a contented state of mind. Of course, this state of mind is sometimes associated with pleasures of the senses. Therefore,happiness can be achieved in many ways. Today, people seem to be interested in thepleasures of the flesh as a means to happiness. This may be due to the anesthetizedfeelings that we have developed from the staggering amount of information pushed upon usevery day. This lack of sensation causes a need that when filled is often mistaken forhappiness. As a general rule, I feel, peo...
