According to this interpretation, Mill is focusing on pleasurable sensations and then distinguishing higher and lower pleasures by references to their causes.
He sees this as a misunderstanding, citing Mill's theory of "higher and lower pleasures" to support the view that some forms of happiness are qualitatively more valuable than others.
The distinction between higher and lower pleasures allows us to say that no amount of lower pleasures can outweigh some amount of higher pleasures.
Higher pleasures are pleasures caused by the exercise of our higher faculties, whereas lower pleasures are pleasures caused by the exercise of our lower capacities.
John Stuart Mill suggested that there are higher and lower pleasures (Mill, 2002, p. 241), the idea being that the value of higher and lower pleasures is measured on different scales.
He observed that those who have experienced both these and the lower pleasures, tend to prefer the former.
Now it should be clear how the monist can make sense of phenomena like higher and lower pleasures.
If higher pleasures are better than lower pleasures, but not because they involve a greater quantity of pleasure, how can this be squared with hedonism?
For if they were just the same sort of thing, there seems to be no reason why lower pleasures will not eventually outweigh higher pleasures.
Seeking pleasure, approval or wealth, is not always easy and it seems possible that conflict could arise, for example, between determinations to pursue higher or lower pleasures, long-term pleasures or immediate gratifications.
9. Of course, Mill himself may have intended his higher and lower pleasures as foundational plural values but that debate can be left aside.
