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Questions tagged [john-stuart-mill]

John Stuart Mill (1806 – 1873) was a British philosopher associated with classical liberalism. He was a proponent of utilitarianism.

The following are some sources for information on Mill.

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Mill's proof of utilitarianism: moving from the individual to the aggregate

OK, so: In Utilitarianism, specifically Chapter IV, Mill claims that ...each person’s happiness is a good to that person, and the general happiness, therefore, a good to the aggregate of all persons. Now, putting potential objections to Mill's…
Chaerephon
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What were the "paradoxes of Rousseau"?

John Stuart Mill (1859, On Liberty): Thus, in the eighteenth century, when nearly all the instructed, and all those of the uninstructed who were led by them, were lost in admiration of what is called civilization, and of the marvels of modern…
user46976
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Mill's Proof and Nozick's Experience Machine

I'm trying to grasp how Mill's claim that the only good is happiness/pleasure is able to respond to Nozick's though experiment. Humans strive for virtue and other goods only if they are associated with the natural and original tendency to seek…
Scb
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Did Easterlin paradox and Scitovsky joyless economy disprove utilitarianism?

Utilitarianism is defined as follows: Utilitarianism is a theory in normative ethics holding that the best moral action is the one that maximizes utility. Utility is defined in various ways, but is usually related to the well-being of sentient…
Vitaly Olegovitch
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Why did Mill reference those who inhabit the more, rather than LESS, civilized parts of the world?

Preface: First encountering this quote on p 150, Philosophy: A Complete Introduction (2012) by Prof. Sharon Kaye MA PhD (in Philosophy, U. Toronto), I already tried the paraphrase on p 40 of 78 of the 2008 paraphrase. Source: III.4; Scroll down 20%…
user8572
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Harm Principle and Duty to Rescue - Which "baseline" should an action be compared against when assessing harm?

Preface ("What isn't my question") As prominently articulated by Mill, liberalism (and the harm principle) asserts that it is always bad for aggregate utility to coercively interfere in people's voluntary, self-regarding actions. As Mill did not…
yue-dongchen
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For Mill, is all speech ethical so long as it doesnt conflict with the harm principle?

I understand that Mill was a big advocate of freedom of speech and expression. Im just wondering whether he just saw that as state policy or if he thought that on an individual level all speech is ethically positive so long as it doesnt go against…
Jim stoke
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John Stuart Mill " On Liberty" Chapter 1 Introductory

After reading John Stuart Mill " On Liberty" Chapter 1 Introductory, I was wondering if this would be a good conclusion of his chapter "Freedoms negates society’s propensity to compel compliance."
Flow
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Is John Stuart Mill's quality/quantity of pleasure distinction consistent with utilitarian hedonism?

Source: p 82 Middle, Ethics: A Very Short Introduction (2001) by Simon Blackburn. There is something a bit deflating about Bentham’s picture. It suggests a life of monotonous hedonism, fit only for pigs. Yet surely ‘better Socrates dissatisfied…
user8572
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Does Mill intend to identify attainment of desires and happiness?

Mill explcitly states that "in reality there is nothing desired except happiness", which I paraphrase as "if person X desires event Y, then X believes the attainment of event Y would cause happiness for X." Does he also intend to assert the…
Him
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Mill's On Liberty: Democracy and Diversity

I was wondering why J.S Mill believed that democracy hinders diversity (and societal improvement through that)? Or perhaps I've misunderstood him and he was really against populism? A more powerful agency than even all these, in bringing about a…
shine yang
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How would Kant/Mill justify causing somebody discomfort when doing the righteous thing?

I was wondering how Kant, or even Mill might respond to the issue that when doing the righteous thing, say standing up for yourself against a bully, or somebody who wants to impede on your rights, you cause said person discomfort. The only purpose…
Jim stoke
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What's the meaning of "Intermediate Generalizations"?

The phrase is from John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism. The context is: "The corollaries from the principle of utility, like the precepts of every practical art, admit of indefinite improvement, and, in a progressive state of the human mind, their…
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How did Wordsworth's poetry cure J.S. Mill (medical?) depression?

I'm not sure Mill signified medical psychiatric depression with his use of 'depression'. Unlearned in poetry, I still don't understand this elixir of Wordsworth's poetry, after reading Mill's own writing. To wit, if Mill put the question…
user8572
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Are there others that hold the same opinion on Freedom of Speech that Mill holds?

“In this age, the mere example of non-conformity, the mere refusal to bend the knee to custom, is itself a service. Precisely because the tyranny of opinion is such as to make eccentricity a reproach, it is desirable, in order to break…
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