If he sacrifices his life as trade off to his family's well being, he is considered a utilitarian. He may also feel that he's done his part for his country and after his death, he'll be regarded as a martyr. People are faced with choices everyday and as a utilitarian; one must always consider the action they choose that will bring the greatest amount of joy towards everyone as oppose to the least amount of joy afflicting the public. Mill describes two major elements in utilitarianism. The first element is "the commitment of consequentialism in some form of human welfare,"" which simply understands the importance of each person's well being. The second element is "a value theory of human welfare,""5 which states that each moral action will reflect each person's well being and simply the understanding of human value. .
Different pleasures bring different amounts of happiness to different people, but in Bentham's theory all pleasures are equal. Mill, on the other hand, acknowledged that there are higher and lower pleasures. Mill implies that pleasures are a necessary condition for goodness, but that goodness depends on other qualities of experience than pleasantness and unpleasantness. Mill describes his theory of pleasures in an algebraic equation; pleasantness functions like x, in the algebraic product, x*y*z, if x=0, the product is zero.1 Mill describes that everyone has multiple amounts of pleasures; of all those pleasures, there are two that he considers a higher pleasure and a lower pleasure. He states that those fortunate enough to experience the higher and lower pleasures in a lifetime would prefer the most desirable one. Those who haven't experienced both would not find it desirable, but the people who have, would not give up the pleasure for any other pleasures. Those less fortunate to have experience only the lower or one of the pleasures would choose the closer one (between the two lower pleasures) because they've become comfortable with the nearer one.
