Mill states that the ultimate source of all “moral obligation,” and by derivation, all norms of
justice, is the Greatest Happiness Principle (185). This principle holds that happiness, defined as
pleasure and the avoidance of pain, is “the ultimate end, with reference to and for the sake of which
all other things are desirable.” Nothing can be desired or valued for any reason other than its being
in itself pleasurable, or a means to satisfaction of further pleasures. Moral principles cannot have
any ultimate justification other than the promotion of happiness, because happiness (i.e. pleasure) is
the only thing that is intrinsically good.