john stuart mill on liberty utilitarianism

Mill thinks this theory of value is actually quite simple: everyone, including laypeople and philosophers alike, values happiness and nothing else.

He thinks this is because they have failed to clearly specify the first principles of their ethical philosophies-they articulate various second principles about how to act, but never explain the theory of moral value that underlies these principles. This is most apparent in the introduction, in which Mill notes that ethics has long been considered an important subject and yet has produced little agreement among philosophers. In many instances, however, the book is much more layered and complex: Mill often references other important ethical systems (like Kant’s deontological ethics and Aristotle’s concept of virtue), whose major concepts he thinks utilitarianism explains even better. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.The stated purpose of John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism is deceptively simple: the author wants to clearly explain his utilitarian ethical philosophy and respond to the most common criticisms of it.

ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. In their introduction Mark Philp and Frederick Rosen set the essays in the context of Mill's other works, and argue that his conviction in the importance of the development of human character in its full diversity provides the core to his liberalism and to any defensible account of the value of liberalism to the modern world.

These essays are central to the liberal tradition, but their interpretation and how we should understand their connection with each other are both contentious. They have formed the basis for many of the political institutions of the West since the late nineteenth century, tackling as they do the appropriate grounds for protecting individual liberty, the basic principles of ethics, the benefits and the costs of representative institutions, and the central importance of gender equality in society. ‘it is only the cultivation of individuality which produces, or can produce, well developed human beings’ Mill's four essays, 'On Liberty', 'Utilitarianism', 'Considerations on Representative Government', and 'The Subjection of Women' examine the most central issues that face liberal democratic regimes - whether in the nineteenth century or the twenty-first.

John stuart mill on liberty utilitarianism