With reference to this extract, explain what J.S Mill means by happiness.

In “Utilitarianism” Mill argued that happiness was the sole basis of morality. Through observation of other men and women he found that all people have a natural tendency to seek happiness and therefore concluded that happiness must not only be the purpose of humanity but also an intrinsic good. It was on this belief that Mill based his “Greatest Happiness Principle” in which he expressed that “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness”. In the given extract Mill reminds the reader that “utility includes not solely the pursuit of pleasure, but the prevention or mitigation of unhappiness” and therefore even if happiness is unattainable to some individuals, the ability to avoid unhappiness will still motivate them to follow the utilitarian theory. Through the “Greatest Happiness Principle” Mill demonstrated that happiness is valuable and desirable in all people. This could be interpreted as a response to the renunciation argument raised in the extract, which holds that sacrificing personal happiness, as heroes do, is only morally good when it causes happiness for others. Having shown that happiness was that which is sought out and valuable, Mill then took it upon himself to expand on what happiness actually was. Earlier in Chapter Two, Mill defined happiness as “intended pleasure and the absence of pain”, but by pleasure Mill did not mean just an agreeable sensation but rather, drawing on the insights of Aristotle, equated it to more holistic notions of welfare or satisfaction. Mill therefore was able to include traditional virtues, like charity, bravery and justice, within his notion of happiness. It for this reason that many commentators have chosen to interpret Mill as non-hedonistic.Furthermore, Mill believed that pleasures were qualitative not quantitative and that some actions, known as higher pleasures, brought about greater happiness. Mill believed that higher pleasures were those which engaged our higher mental faculties and were inherently more valuable than lower bodily pleasures. This belief was expressed most famously in the phrase “it is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied”. This was contrary to the views of Mill’s godfather Bentham and led Mill to deride Bentham’s philosophy as the “swine’s philosophy”. Mill’s belief in higher and lower pleasures can be seen as an extension of his beliefs on happiness because he holds that higher pleasures are more valuable than lower pleasures only because they are more conducive to happiness. While, as pointed out in the extract, it is impossible to be happy at all times, through higher pleasures people can experience “the occasional brilliant flash of enjoyment”, which was enough to lead to a generally happy life. Whilst, Mill did believe that some, “fools”, were unable to access the higher pleasures he predominantly saw this as the consequence of “the present wretched education and wretched social arrangements”. This led him to lead much of his life as an MP, political activist and ardent social reformer trying to secure more higher pleasures and greater happiness for all.