The principle of utility The principle of utility is considered the “principle of greatest happiness”. Mill defines this principle as actions are right if they tend to promote the greatest happiness and wrong if they tend to produce the opposite of happiness (Utilitarianism, 7). There have been many arguments against the principle of utility. People against this principle argue that there is no time to calculate what generates the most happiness in a given situation. Mills responds to this objection by explaining how secondary moral reasoning and the fundamental principle of morality are taken into account when deciding what promotes overall happiness. After explaining his argument, I believe Mill succeeds in answering the objection, he explains why it should be no problem to evaluate the best possible outcome using the secondary moral rule as the first principle. According to Mill, there are several elements to the principle of utility. First, it allows people to choose the action that most promotes happiness. As stated, Mill believes that an action is right if it promotes happiness and an action is wrong if it promotes pain. Secondly, the principle of utility does not focus on the happiness of the individual but on overall happiness. As stated, “the first laws of the social order should place the happiness or interest of each individual as nearly as possible in harmony with the interest of the whole” (Utilitarianism, 17). The principle takes into consideration the happiness of others and does not allow you to only think about yourself, this incorporates the idea of ​​equal treatment into the principle. Another element of the utility principle is consequentialism, which is defined as what makes a ...... means of paper ...... of utility, helping the family would promote the greatest happiness because it is a greater number than to a single person. In the end, five lives would be saved instead of just one. I think Mill succeeds in answering the objection. It clearly states that an individual should use common sense as their first instinct for what is wrong or right. As defined, “If utility is the ultimate source of moral obligations, utility can be invoked to decide between them when their demands are incompatible, even though applying the standard may be difficult, it is better than nothing” ( Utilitarianism, 25 ). Thus, in most ordinary circumstances, common moral rules should be able to distinguish what promotes the greatest happiness without needing the principle of utility. And only when the secondary rule conflicts, you should use the principle of utility.