Mill's Utilitarianism - Essay Example

Mill’s Utilitarianism It would not be an exaggeration to suggest that one of the characteristic features of the humansociety lies in the fact that actions of the people who belong to it are often viewed through the prism of Ethics. John Stuart Mill was one of the philosophers who contributed an ethical theory titled Utilitarianism, explaining what actions should be considered to be right. This paper will analyze in details one of its quotes about justice. To begin with, one should not that Mill pays particular attention to the above mentioned notion since it, according to him, it is often seen as the greatest obstacle on the way of accepting the doctrine that he developed (41).

That is why he tries to show that justice and utility are able not only to coexist, but also cooperate.He points about that a fundamental part of justice is the desire to punish. Indeed, the former notion is often connected to various actions which might have a certain violent aspect, for example, a court ruling is basically a punishment for a person (50). So, he draws a connection between justice and some negative effects that it may have on people.Mill also suggests that justice might be perceived as a form of retaliation or vengeance that is applied to people who violates the rule and regulation which were created by the society (52).

In other words, the social environment takes defensive actions in the form of justice in order to punish those how did not follow the conventions and thus became a treat to it.What is more important is that this desire to retaliate is seen by Mill as an essential constituent of a human being. Indeed, it is a part of our nature to hurt those who hurt us (55). He points out that this kind of attitude to others allows people to build a social environment that provided them with security.Nevertheless, in the case of justice this natural desire is conditioned by other characteristic features of a human being, such as intellect and sympathy (11).

In other words, when violent actions addressed to those who hurt as go through the prism of intellect and sympathy, they become justice that is being applied to those who should be punished.Finally, the range of people who are likely to experience the consequences of justice is defined by Mill in the following way. On the one hand, this number includes those people who hurt a particular individual (50). For example, a person who commits robbery hurts another person and the latter perceives it is an act of injustice that was directed at him or her personally.

In this case the desire to retaliate is strong and it is backed by the society. On the other hand, justice in form of legal system also takes care of people who commit actions which hurt the society in general (50). Thus, the above mentioned instance of robbery sets a negative example and undermines the fundamental principles of the social environment which should be avoided.