John Stuart Mill is the philosopher behind the Utilitarianism Theory, who introduced the theory in a bid to help people from making life decisions. In his approach, Mill suggests that actions are right when they produce happiness and wrong when they result in sadness (Komu, 2020). According to Mill, happiness is the absence of pain and the presence of pleasure. The theory concentrates primarily on human happiness. Mill, for instance, says that rights are established with the aim of promoting happiness (Komu, 2020). Therefore, the discussion argues about the way Utilitarianism Theory disapproves violence or life-harming action.
According to Mill’s utilitarianism theory, the use of morally permissible violence or life-harming action is wrong as it directly affects the happiness of a person that violence is acted upon (Lu, 2020). By forcing pain and suffering or threatening the life of another human being, the action results in sadness and pain of not only the person being harmed but his or her loved ones as well. Hence, the possible pleasure of a single sadistic actor is outnumbered by the physical and psychological torture experienced by several people.
The utilitarianism theory against the use of violence or life-harming action matches my point of view and the way I would explain my position. Indeed, when I think about violent behavior, I think about the lives of victims of it. Unfortunately, there are numerous examples from real-life, such as casualties at war, abused or neglected children of violent parents, victims of maniacs who locked people up and tortured them for their own sadistic pleasure. None of such stories evokes sympathy towards the actor who may have been fulfilling his emotional needs. Instead, the distress and suffering of victims are the reason why violence and life-threatening behavior should never be considered.
References
Komu, S. S. (2020). Pleasure versus Virtue Ethics in The Light of Aristotelians and the Utilitarianism of John Stuart Mills and Jeremy Bentham. Al-Milal: Journal of Religion and Thought, 2(1), 37-56.
Lu, X. (2020). Utilitarianism of Mill and Bentham: a comparative analysis. Frontiers in Educational Research, 3(4).