John Stuart Mill's book Utilitarianism is a classic exposition and
defence of utilitarianism in ethics. The essay first appeared as a
series of three articles published in Fraser's Magazine in 1861 (vol.
64, p. 391-406, 525-534, 659-673); the articles were collected and
reprinted as a single book in 1863. Mill's aim in the book is to explain
what utilitarianism is, to show why it is the best theory of ethics, and
to defend it against a wide range of criticisms and misunderstandings.
Though heavily criticized both in Mill's lifetime and in the years
since, Utilitarianism did a great deal to popularize utilitarian ethics
and has been considered ""the most influential philosophical
articulation of a liberal humanistic morality that was produced in the
nineteenth century.""