Abstract
John Stuart Mill defended utilitarianism; indeed, he was its leading defender in the Victorian era. Mill was also the advocate of a radical reform in British politics and society, and his proposals were all rooted in the Principle of Utility as he understood it. For the utilitarian, all other moral rules were subsidiary to the Principle of Utility. This includes the principles of justice. But this giving priority to utility was challenged by those who defended the primacy of justice, and there are those who continue so to challenge Mill’s account of morality and of justice. This chapter aims to give an exposition of Mill’s views on these issues, and to offer, partially at least, a defense of those views, or at least to show that they are not so wildly short of the truth as they are presented as being.
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© 2012 Fred Wilson
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Wilson, F. (2012). John Stuart Mill on Justice. In: Kahn, L. (eds) Mill on Justice. Philosophers in Depth. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230354975_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230354975_5
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