s represent the most basic social utilities necessary for human well being; human culture cannot flourish if society does not protect individual rights. Thus, rights are fundamental to the greatest happiness principle (utility), since they must be protected for people to be able to enjoy anything else. As a result of his willingness to distinguish in value between different types of pleasure, and his view that the pleasures of the intellect are the most valuable, Mill has been called an "eudemonistic" utilitarian. Alternatively, he could be seen as a "stratified" hedonistic utilitarian, since he retains Bentham's emphasis on pleasure or happiness, but "stratifies" the notion of pleasure or happiness based on differences in quality between the various types of pleasure.Both Mill’s and Bentham’s ideas of utilitarianism contain many interesting concepts, but also several flaws. One major problem is with Bentham’s ‘hedonic’ calculus as it concentrates on the consequences of an action rather than the motives. According to his theory, if a person were to commit an act for the wrong reasons, or even a wrong act, it would be perfectly acceptable as long as its consequence is long term pleasure for the greatest number of people. For example, is it reasonable to sentence thieves to death to stop other thieves from robbing people? Although Bentham believed that punishment (pain) should be balanced by a reduction of pain, or increase in pleasure to others, sentencing thieves to death may in the end produce the greatest pleasure for the greatest number. Even if one accepts ‘hedonic’ calculus as a method for assessing ethical behaviour, there is still the further problem of defining happiness itself. Bentham’s ‘hedonic’ calculus seems to be simply his own personal desires rather than a revelation of any objective criteria. Mill’s theory of higher and lower pleasures is also problematic...
