Utilitarianism

Was Mill a Rule Utilitarian?

In 1953, during the time when the modern distinction between act and rule utilitarianism was being thrashed out, J. O. Urmson published an influential paper in which he argued that Mill followed the rule utilitarian approach. Since then it has become quite common to assert that Mill was a rule utilitarian. However, evidence published later suggests otherwise. In an 1872 letter Mill wrote,

I agree with you that the right way of testing actions by their consequences, is to test them by the natural consequences of the particular action, and not by those which would follow if everyone did the same. But, for the most part, the consideration of what would happen if everyone did the same, is the only means we have of discovering the tendency of the act in the particular case.

This issue of whether Mill is best classified as a rule utilitarian or an act utilitarian who advocates the use of rules goes beyond the requirements of this course and the marking instructions for 2018 has specifically stated that this course doesn’t take a position one way or the other.

However, there are pragmatic reasons for avoiding the issue entirely. The  SQA support notes issued in September 2018 say,

Candidates should be aware that the distinction between act and rule utilitarianism was not made until the middle of the 20th century and so it may be anachronistic to apply these terms to Bentham and Mill. While it may be uncontroversial to retrospectively categorise Bentham as an act utilitarian, there is considerable academic debate as to whether it is appropriate to call Mill a rule utilitarian. This debate is involved and goes beyond the requirements of this course.

When these terms have been applied to Bentham and Mill it has often led to candidate confusion. For example, it has often resulted in candidates claiming that Bentham was not interested in rules, which is obviously false in that he was clearly interested in reforming legislation, and has often led candidates to think that Mill’s higher and lower pleasures have something to do with rule utilitarianism.

For these reasons the advice is to not relate these terms to Bentham and Mill.

Given the academic debate, candidates are not rewarded or penalised for simply saying that Mill was a rule utilitarian.