Mill's Principle of Utility says that a right action is one that maximizes overall happiness. However, as he states that some pleasures, or kinds of happiness, are greater than others, he provides the Desirability Test to distinguish between what he calls “higher pleasures” and “lower pleasures”. Mills believes that higher pleasures will generally be those that involve distinctively human faculties, and although there may seem to be holes in his statement on the surface, I believe that his argument proves to be valid on the deeper level.
Pleasures that relate to distinctively human faculties involve matters such as philosophy, music, literature, and art, which bring Mill his first criticism. All of these listed activities are pleasures of the elite, which lead critics of Mills to question why they should be favored, and also to point out that they may bring happiness to one person, but not to another. Mill first responds to this by saying that these pleasures may not all be elitist, in that one person may use higher faculties while bowling or racing a car. Also, Mill is sure to make clear that he does not say people should favor these pleasures, but only that those familiar with them do in fact prefer them.
The biggest argument against Mill comes to light with the simple fact that people all around us decide to spend their time enjoying pleasures that do not involve higher faculties. Even people who are well acquainted with activities of higher faculties will opt for lower, more hedonistic ones instead. Mill responds by saying that you cannot always tell from what people do, what they in fact prefer. Many people may sit in front of a video game consul on a Saturday night even though they may actually prefer to go to a live music venue, such as an opera. There are many reasons for situations such as this. One possibility is simply that the opera house is far away and seems like too much of a hassle to buy the ticket and travel the distance, especially when the video game is in the next room. Another possibility is the addiction of the video game. The person may want to stop playing, but can't bring him or herself to part with the system. This is similar to people who desire to quit smoking or to eat healthier, but find it easier to “quit next month” and to buy microwavable food.
One must take into account all of the outstanding factors that affect somebody's decision to either follow through with a higher pleasure, or to travel down into a lesser, hedonistic activity. Even though their actions do not necessarily always reflect it, people's preferences will reveal themselves to be in favor of higher pleasures related to purely human faculties.
