Mill's Theory of Justice

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

1978

Editor(s)

A.I. Goldman & J. Kim

ISBN

9027709149

Publisher

D Reidel

Language

en-US

Abstract

It is time we reconsidered the relations between justice and utilitarianism. Thanks to a convergence of political and philosophical developments, interest in political philosophy and the problem of justice is greater than it has been for many years. Significant contributions have recently been made to the field.2 But our understanding of the political face of utilitarianism is, by contrast, rather crude. By re-examining Mill’s theory, I shall try in this paper to help us gain a better grasp upon the utilitarian view of justice.

This paper is a sequel to ‘Mills’s Theory of Morality’, Nous 10 (1976) 101-120. An earlier version was presented at the University of Texas; I am grateful for the comments I received on that occasion. I would also like to thank Stephen Massey and Robert Summers for their comments and suggestions. (Somewhat similar problems were explored, from a different point of view, in ‘Human Rights and the General Welfare’, Philosophy and Public Affairs 6 (1977) 113-129.) For a somewhat different reading of Mill, see Jonathan Harrison, ‘The Expedient, the Right and the Just in Mill’s Utilitarianism’, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Supplementary Volume I, Part 1 (1974) pp. 93-107, which I did not have an opportunity to study before completing this essay.

Comments

This chapter is included in volume 13 of the Philosophical Studies Series in Philosophy.

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