An idea · Nineteenth Century · first attested 1861
Higher and Lower Pleasures
It is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.
Mill's modification of Bentham. Pleasures differ not only in quantity but in quality: the pleasures of the intellect, the feelings, the imagination, and the moral sentiments are higher than bodily ones, because those who have experienced both prefer the former. The move tries to save utilitarianism from the charge that it is a doctrine fit for swine.