Mill poses a new argument that those who pursue happiness/pleasure hedonistically will not be able to reap the rewards of sustainable happiness/pleasure. Mill explains, “…it is thus positively asserted to be impossible that human life should be happy…if by happiness be meant a continuity of highly pleasure excitement, it is evident enough that this is impossible…” Hedonism is known for its self indulgent ways, in which a person is pursuing life only to receive the pleasures of life through that avenue. I think Mill’s statement about those achieving the pleasures/happiness of life through a hedonistic lens, refers back to his earlier statement about the higher and lower pleasures. Mill believes that a person would pursue the lower pleasures of life over the higher pleasures, because of their easy accessibility. The higher pleasures will always be something that a person will be seeking for their entire life. The pursuit of a higher pleasures/happiness through hedonism will leave someone with unhappiness in their life. Hedonism involves a person during their own happiness/pleasures selfishly which is not in line with utilitarianism. Hedonistic pleasures seem to be a lot harder obtain and sustain, because of the many pleasures that are in the world. Living life through utility, does contain a life of happiness/pleasure, but ultimately for the majority.
I do believe that self-sacrifice is a virtue in utilitarianism. Mill states, “All honor to those who can abnegate for themselves the personal enjoyment of life, when by such renunciation they contribute worthily to increase the amount of happiness in the world…” This kind of self-sacrificing reminds me of the self-sacrifices my mother made for me and my siblings. The sacrifices that my mother made weren’t always large scale sacrifices, it could be just her cooking me and my siblings our favorite dinner; that is more tedious versus her cooking her favorite meal which is easier to prepare. I think the sacrifices that an individual makes for the greater amount of people to be happy is in line utilitarianism. Mill states, “A sacrifice which does not increase, or tend to increase, the sum total of happiness, it considers as wasted…” I think it takes a majority of people to make a person feel good about their sacrifice. If their sacrifice affected a lesser amount of people, they probably wouldn’t feel the same amount of happiness. A person can take pleasure in knowing their sacrifices will make other people happy. I feel as if the happiness from others will received by those who are self-sacrificing.
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