The tone of “Utilitarianism” is predominantly intellectual and contemplative. The essay offers thoughtful reflection and inquiry into utilitarian moral and ethical principles. While Mill addresses weighty philosophical concepts, the essay does not necessarily elicit strong emotional reactions from readers. Instead, it encourages a rational examination of utilitarianism as a moral philosophy.
A key aspect of Mill’s contemplative prose is his strong sense of curiosity. Throughout “Utilitarianism,” he is unwilling to rest upon familiar beliefs or assumptions, instead investigating the origins of our moral values and the limits of what can be deduced logically through “proof.” He argues, for example, that we cannot make a case for what we consider to be “good” using rational principles alone:
Questions of ultimate ends are not amenable to direct proof. Whatever can be proved to be good must be so by being shown to be a means to something admitted to be good without proof. The medical art is proved to be good by its conducing to health; but how is it possible to prove that health is good? The art of music is good, for the reason, among others, that it produces pleasure; but what proof is it possible to give that pleasure is good?
Things that are “good,” Mill argues, can only be categorized as such by comparison to something else that is “admitted to be good,” but that does not answer the question of how we make the original determination that something is good. Mill pushes this line of thought further, questioning values that most people would think of as “good” without any further reflection. Though we might say that medicine is good because it improves our health, he writes, we cannot so easily “prove” that health is necessarily “good.” He also claims that most people think of music as good because it leads to “pleasure,” but it is no easier to draw a logical line from pleasure to goodness. He concludes, then, that certain ideas such as pleasure must be good in and of themselves, not because of any rational principle. This passage exemplifies the contemplative tone of the essay at large, as Mill refuses easy answers and examines the borders of rational thought.
