Spots 
Centuries of debate have failed to produce agreement on the ultimate criterion of right and wrong. Intuitive moralists claim we possess a moral sense, yet they still require general laws to resolve conflicting duties. Without a recognized first principle, ethical judgments remain a matter of personal bias rather than rational consensus.
Critics misrepresent utility as a doctrine worthy only of swine, ignoring that human beings possess intellectual and moral faculties far superior to animal appetites. A dissatisfied Socrates holds greater worth than a satisfied fool, because those experienced in both higher and lower pleasures consistently choose the former. Right action aims not at individual gratification, but at maximizing total happiness across all sentient beings.
External motivations such as divine favor or social approval encourage moral obedience, but the ultimate binding force remains an internal feeling in the mind. Sympathy and social affection make the desire for harmony with fellow creatures a natural human need. As society advances, this shared feeling transforms utility from an abstract doctrine into a deeply felt personal conscience.
First principles cannot be demonstrated by ordinary deductive proof, just as the only proof of visibility is that people see an object. People desire happiness as an end, proving that happiness is desirable and that overall happiness is a good to the aggregate of all persons. Other pursuits, such as virtue or wealth, begin as means to happiness but become parts of happiness itself when desired for their own sake.
The sentiment of justice feels distinct from expediency because it combines the natural desire to retaliate against harm with universal sympathy. Rights protect essential conditions of security, without which no human well-being can endure. Far from opposing utility, claims of justice represent the most sacred and imperative obligations within the broader framework of human happiness.
A foundational defence of the principle that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote overall happiness.