Mill aims to precisely define what utilitarianism claims, in terms of the general moral principles that it uses to judge concrete actions, and in terms of the sort of evidence that is supposed to be given for those principles. In so doing, he hopes to do away with some common misunderstandings of utilitarianism, as well as defend it against philosophical criticisms, most notably Kant. In the second chapter, he then formulates a single ethical principle, from which he says all utilitarian ethical principles are derived. Mill goes on to discuss what is meant by “pleasure” and “pain” in his formulation of the Greatest Happiness Principle, to argue that it encompasses intellectual as well as sensual pleasures, and to offer a defense of intellectual pleasures as preferable not only in degree, but also in kind, to sensible pleasures. Mill also discusses questions concerning the motivation to follow utilitarian moral principles.
