Quotation
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“It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.”
John Stuart Mill · Liberalism · Modern · 1863
What does it mean?
Pleasures differ in quality, not only in amount. Someone who knows both the higher and the lower, Mill says, will not trade the life of Socrates dissatisfied for the fool's or the pig's contentment. A rival reading, closer to Bentham, says this smuggles a non-utilitarian ranking into a doctrine that was supposed to count only pleasure: if quality is not cashed out as more pleasure, he has left the creed. He answers that competent judges already prefer the higher, and that their preference is the evidence. Whether that test avoids circularity is the live objection.
Did John Stuart Mill really say this?
The library’s label is Well attested. Mill's own English. He is answering the charge that utilitarianism is a doctrine worthy of swine.
Where it comes from
Utilitarianism, chapter 2
Approximate date: 1863.
How to use it
A sixth-former in Birmingham drops a harder subject they respect for an easier one that feels better by Friday. Mill thinks they already know which pleasure is higher, and that the dissatisfied Socrates is still the better life. The example does not prove his test works. It shows where the test bites.
A mindset reading
Quality is where he leaves Bentham. Quote only 'the greatest happiness' and you have the earlier doctrine, not this revision. The pig is a reply to Carlyle, not a slur to enjoy.
Understand the philosophy
Chapter 2 of Utilitarianism is the qualitative hedonism critics still argue with. Competent judges are those who have experienced both kinds. The chapter does not settle whether we should trust them when their tastes have been trained by the same hierarchy they then call higher.
- happiness
- knowledge
- virtue
FAQ
What does it mean?
Pleasures differ in quality, not only in amount. Someone who knows both the higher and the lower, Mill says, will not trade the life of Socrates dissatisfied for the fool's or the pig's contentment. A rival reading, closer to Bentham, says this smuggles a non-utilitarian ranking into a doctrine that was supposed to count only pleasure: if quality is not cashed out as more pleasure, he has left the creed. He answers that competent judges already prefer the higher, and that their preference is the evidence. Whether that test avoids circularity is the live objection.
Did John Stuart Mill really say this?
Well attested. Mill's own English. He is answering the charge that utilitarianism is a doctrine worthy of swine.
Which work is it in?
Utilitarianism, chapter 2 Approximate date: 1863.