John Stuart Mill and Aristotle's Viewpoints in Their Epistemological Essay - 6

John Stuart Mill and Aristotle's Viewpoints in Their Epistemological and Metaphysical Attitudes - Essay Example The researcher states that Mill and Aristotle have different viewpoints over what constitutes satisfaction in life. In his writings on Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill upholds utility as the ultimate happiness principle. In this sense, an individual should strive towards maximizing one’s pleasure and works towards minimizing pain. Mill, therefore, holds that pleasure and the absence of pain are the ultimate ends in a person’s life. On the other hand, in Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle describes the ultimate end of life as leaving in virtue and reason. Aristotle argues that happiness is a subjective concept that differs in every person. He refutes honor as concerned with seeking legitimacy among other people. In this sense, honor is not necessarily the legitimacy that it represents. Aristotle argues that a satisfied person must master the intellectual virtue and the moral virtue. Besides, satisfaction demands that a person possesses the ability to use one’s facultie s of reasoning in the appropriate sense. John Stuart Mill and Aristotle disagree over what makes up correct knowledge. Aristotle, in the Organon, developed a method of logic that comprised a system of principles for establishing syllogisms. In this sense, individuals could utilize their intuition to develop logic. Such forms of arguments start with a core premise that precedes a conclusion. On the other hand, Mill, an empiricist, believed that knowledge could only form out of senses. Forming logic depends on observing a system of related instances that bear a premise true. In his System of Logic, Mill created hegemony between deductive thinking and inductive thinking. In deductive thinking, a conclusion leads towards the development of principles that support it. On the other hand, inductive thinking involves drawing a conclusion from clearly stated premises.