“Mill’s quote employs that distinction we made in Chapter 2 between values and goods that are intrinsic, and those that are instrumental. Recall that intrinsic goods are those things that are good in and of themselves or for their own sake; instrumental goods are those things that help us attain intrinsic goods. Thus, money is generally understood to be an instrumental good because its value lies in its ability to help us attain other things that are intrinsically good- by itself, money is of limited worth or utility. Happiness, however, is not a means to anything- we do not use it to get other things are desirable. Instead, we desire happiness because that state of being happy is, by itself, something we consider to be good. Knowing that happiness is the highest of the goods, we are in a better position to determine what constitutes good consequences, as well as what kinds of decisions and actions are morally permissible and desirable.
Whereas happiness is intrinsically valuable, honesty, legal rights, and other moral values and principles must be thought of as valuable only instrumentally- only to the extent that they aid in realizing the ultimate goal of producing happiness. It may be the case that having legal rights aids in producing a more just society in which people are better able to pursue good lives. In this respect, legal rights may be morally desirable. However, the instrumental nature of legal rights also means that they can be trumped by other considerations in some situations. Rights to privacy, for instance, might be justifiably violated if doing so brings to light information that could potentially save many lives, thereby generating more happiness than unhappiness on the balance.” (Williams and Arrigo, p. 146-147)
In Chapter 2, Mill’s quote engages the discrepancy that was made between values and goods that are intrinsic and instrumental. Intrinsic goods are the goods that are personally good for someone, for their own sake. Instrumental goods are the good things that help one attain intrinsic goods. An example of an instrumental good would be money. Money brings happiness to one, but money is of limited value and utility. Money does not last forever, nor does an instrumental good. Happiness is not meant to obtain other things that are more desirable. Desiring happiness is the state of being happy, by itself, which is something we consider to be good. Happiness is considered to be known as the highest of the goods, one has the choice of determining what good consequences as well as determining what kinds of decisions and actions that are morally acceptable and needed.
Happiness is intrinsically valuable including honesty, legal rights, and other values that are considered to be moral should be respected as instrumental goods to the extent in which they benefit the ultimate goal of generating happiness. Legal rights aids in producing a society that is considered to be just in which people pursue to have a better life that is considered to be an example of a good life. Legal rights may be morally desirable, but the instrumental nature of legal rights also means that they can be diverted by other considerations in certain circumstances. Another example would be the right to privacy, in which can be justifiably violated if one brings light to information that could potentially save lives, in which unbalances the scale of happiness and unhappiness in favor of happiness.
This is an example of an unacceptable paraphrase. This paraphrase was improper because instead of changing the structure of the sentence, the only thing that was changed were the words. The words were replaced with synonyms. By changing the words does not mean that the sentence is not completely changed. Therefore that would be plagiarizing. Another reason as to why this is an unacceptable paraphrase is because the sequence of the sentences in the paragraph was not changed. The whole paragraph sequence was the same as the original sequence. Another reason as to why this paragraph is unacceptable is because there is no citation. The sentences lead the reader to believe that this is common knowledge rather than a cited source and that the writer’s words are their own personal thoughts and conclusions.
Everyone has their own opinion on certain values and morals one should abide to in their own life. By evaluating the morals and values one believes in it will allow one to make moral decisions and actions that are acceptable and anticipated to ultimately bring good happiness to one’s life. To obtain happiness one must evaluate what makes something good and the consequences it will bring. John Stuart Mill identifies that the goods that one experience in life are either intrinsic or instrumental. These goods have the same ultimate goal of bringing happiness to oneself but in two completely different forms. Intrinsic goods are goods that bring happiness within us, and instrumental goods are things that help us obtain the goal of being intrinsically happy, but rather in a materialistic way that has restricted use or value. One holds happiness to be one of the highest desirable goods that one can feel in life. These two forms of goods share the same ultimate goal, but one can’t obtain the instrumental good without the intrinsic good. These two goods bring the ultimate happiness to one’s life. (Williams and Arrigo, p. 146)
Intrinsic and instrumental goods share the same ultimate goal however, the difference between the two are visible. Intrinsic goods are things that bring happiness within us, as for instrumental goods are the things that are materialistic, and other categories such as honesty, and legal rights. For instant, the example of legal rights used in Ethics, Crime, and Criminal Justice by Christopher R. Williams on page 147 states, “It may be the case that having legal rights aids in producing a more just society in which people are better able to pursue good lives.” Legal rights is an instrumental good in which by having the society to be more just in which influences people’s lives to be better and desire to live a life that is morally good is what helps obtain and intrinsic good of happiness. These two go hand in hand when it comes to obtaining the ultimate happiness. At times, one faces certain situations in which things are diverted and take a turn to have a different outcome. These problems are brought up naturally in an everyday life situation, in which in this example, legal rights can sometimes be justifiability violated in which generates more happiness to one’s life rather than unhappiness. (Williams and Arrigo, p. 147)
This example of paraphrasing is acceptable because after the reader finishes reading this piece of information it shows that it is not common knowledge because of the citation. The whole paragraph is altered so that the reader understands how the writer perceived the information in their own words. The sequence of the sentence from the paraphrased version compared to the original version is completely different. The paraphrased version delivers my own interpretation and thoughts from the information. Paraphrasing is important because a writer does not want the reader to believe something that did not come from their own interpretations and thoughts.