Final answer:
John Stuart Mill enhanced utilitarianism by introducing qualitative aspects of happiness, distinguishing between higher intellectual and lower sensual pleasures, and advancing the Greatest Happiness Principle that focuses on the greater good.
Step-by-step explanation:
John Stuart Mill sought to refine the utilitarianism philosophized by Jeremy Bentham by incorporating the concept of the quality of happiness into the moral calculus. While Bentham's approach focused purely on the quantity of pleasure, Mill introduced qualitative distinctions among pleasures, adding depth to the theory of utility. Mill distinguished between higher and lower pleasures, assigning greater value to pleasures that engage our higher faculties, such as intellectual and social pleasures, over more basic sensual pleasures.
Mill formulated the Greatest Happiness Principle in which he argued that actions are right if they produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number, and not merely the agent's own happiness. In doing so, Mill's approach to utilitarianism becomes more nuanced, taking into account the different dimensions of human well-being and encouraging societal and political decisions that maximize collective happiness. This also meant recognizing a role for government intervention where necessary to improve happiness, such as advocating for the working class and proposing voting rights for them and for women.