Final answer:
The claim that John Stuart Mill valued lower pleasures over higher pleasures is false. Mill made a qualitative distinction between pleasures and argued that higher pleasures should be given more importance in utilitarian assessments.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that lower pleasures, for John Stuart Mill, are more important than higher, and are capable of being calculated is False. Mill actually posited the opposite; he identified what he called higher and lower pleasures and argued that higher pleasures, which involve the exercise of our higher faculties like reason and imagination, are of greater importance and superior to the lower pleasures, such as basic sensory pleasures. Mill's distinction was qualitative rather than quantitative, recognizing that while all pleasures contribute to utility, the quality of pleasure is crucial, claiming that "it is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied". This underscores the notion that the capability of experiencing higher-order pleasures is a defining feature of human life and should be given greater value in moral deliberations.