What is the source of John Stuart Mill’s higher pleasures? According to David Brink, Mill thought that higher pleasures can be achieved by the use of mental faculties. However, this interpretation is insufficient in that it only superficially captures the source. I will supplement Brink’s interpretation using a qualified version of Feagin’s interpretation, that higher pleasures are produced by ideas such as ‘Infinity’, ‘Unity’, ‘Repose’, ‘Symmetry’, and ‘Purity’, as well as a qualified version of Long’s interpretation, that higher pleasures are those that human beings with highly developed mental faculties strive to achieve.
 The qualified Feagin’s interpretation implies that higher pleasures are those achieved through the use of mental faculties by exploiting the ideal world, which transcends reality and is more attractive and majestic than the real world. The qualified Long’s interpretation implies that higher pleasures arise from the use of highly developed mental faculties. Combining these two interpretations, I argue that higher pleasures are brought about when highly developed mental faculties exploit the ideal world.

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