John Stuart Mill: utilitarianism and liberalism

Abstract

My aim in this paper is to investigate the compatibility of this utilitarian and liberal thesis of John Stuart Mill. I’ll present initially the main critics of moral and political philosophy of Mill, for whom the disciple of Bentham would have abandoned the utilitarianism or still not sufficiently clarified his principle of liberty, which would make a thinker unsystematic and inconsistent. My thesis is against these interpretations, since it holds that Mill is consistent. Then I’ll defend an interpretation of the principle of liberty and individuality, seeking to demonstrate that his utilitarianism is compatible with their liberalism.