Higher Pleasures, Civic Virtue, and Democracy: A Reconstruction of Millian Themes

This article takes a start in the utilitarian philosophy of John Stuart Mill and considers an interpretation of the concept of "higher pleasures" as referring to "political" pleasures. This interpretation is based on the idea that even if one is a utilitarian, the value of democracy (majority rule) should take precedence over the value of (hedonistic) utilitarianism. On the political level, this has the consequence that civic virtue (or higher pleasures) should have an important role in a democratic society. Thus, the article connects to contemporary discussions on republicanism in a novel way and offers some ideas of how higher pleasures may be promoted in a constitutional context.