At page 13-14, Mill argues that “it is better to be a human
being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied
than a fool satisfied.” I think this is how it should be, but in some cases
people will think that it is better to be a fool satisfied than to be Socrates
dissatisfied. One example is with McDonalds. McDonalds’ food taste good and
people like to eat there. However, it is well-known that their food process is unethical
in terms of how animals are treated and also not good for the human body because
it uses lots of chemicals. However, the demand for McDonalds is increasing,
meaning that people are supporting its business. People are given an option to
see both sides; the tasty and unhealthy food, but people do not make the better
options, they will still eat food from McDonalds. If people remain fools after
seeing both sides, then isn’t it better to be the fool satisfied who does not
know the unhealthy side of McDonalds’ food so that one can just purely enjoy
the tasty food than be a human being dissatisfied? Mill might say that at some
point people will start making a better decision or try to solve the problem by
knowing both sides, so at the end, it is better to be a human being dissatisfied.
This is true and some people do not eat McDonalds’ food. They may be
unsatisfied because they are missing the tasty food, but at the same time those
people probably would not want to go back to the fool satisfied. However, that
kind of trend does not seem to be the common path, seeing the increasing demand
for McDonalds. So when the majority prefers to stay as a fool satisfied, is it
actually better to be Socrates dissatisfied?
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