‘Simultaneously utilitarian, individualist, collectivist and liberal’
John Stuart Mill was the last utilitarian, one of the individualist and foremost members of the liberals of all times. His two writings that explained his ideas are “On Liberty” and “Representative Government”.
Mill was faced with the complex problems of governing industrial society which had grown in his time. Fundamentally, it was the same old political problem of liberty versus authority that had prevailed during the feudal society. There was a humanitarian consideration for collective good, more collectivization. A greater degree of governmental intervention was intended to provide social welfare. At the same time, Mill advocated greater freedom of thought, speech and expression for individuals and considered it essential for democracy.
Being both, individualist and collectivist, Mill propounded his ideas, in favour of either creed. His favour was determined by the subject matter to which a creed was applied. In broader sense, Mill remained true to utilitarianism by upholding utility to individual as well as utility to collective body of society. Mill differed with Bentham’s utilitarianism that concerned with the happiness of greatest number of men, ignoring the welfare of man as individual.
Mill accepts the idea of pursuit of greatest happiness but, he argues, it must be both qualitative and quantitative. Mill distinguishes between higher and lower variness of happiness. Mill considered ‘what man is better’ than ‘what men do’. Because of his compassion for underdog in society, he embraced such causes as the equality of women and program of social welfare.
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Here are some other blogs of mine that might interest you, some of them are fiction so if you're into that, my blog is the place to be!
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