At the tail end of his reply to what I called the “bestial” objection to Utilitarianism, Mill argued, “A being of higher faculties requires more to make him happy, is capable probably of more acute suffering, and certainly accessible to it at more points, than one of an inferior type; but in spite of these liabilities, he can never really wish to sink into what he feels to be a lower grade of existence.” (241-242) One take away point of this argument was to understand Mill as defending the claim that human beings are better off directing themselves at the higher pleasures of the mind and intellect; for only the latter can really make them happy. This is a foundational preference, according to Mill. However, it became a bit tricky to say WHY Mill thinks humans have it this preference. That is, we made sense of his argument to prove THAT we have this preference (the thought expirment of Socrates vs. The Pig… but WHY does he think we have this preference. We considered some possible answers: PrideA love of liberty and personal independenceA love of power and excitement But we noted that Mill answers differently. He says, we have this preference in virtue of “a sense of dignity”, which we possess in “some proportion” to our higher faculties (242).
What do you make of this cryptic claim?
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