Constitution, Society, and Leadership Week 8 Unit 5 History of Justice: 19 th Century Thought

1. Constitution, Society, and Leadership Week 8 Unit 5 History of Justice: 19th Century Thought Christopher Dreisbach, Ph.D. Johns Hopkins University

2. History of Justice: 19th Century Thought-iUnit Overview • Justice in 19th Century Thought • John Stuart Mill as representative • The rise of utilitarianism • Two Sections in this Unit • From Mill’s Utilitarianism • From Mill’s On Liberty

3. History of Justice: 19th Century Thought-iiMill-i • Point: The most just society promotes • The greatest good for the greatest number • I. e., is utilitarian • Individual liberty • Except where exercise of that liberty harms the greater number

4. History of Justice: 19th Century Thought-iiiMill-ii • Utilitarianism • Pleasure and pain are the only things desirable as ends • Happiness=pleasure and the absence of pain • Actions are right or wrong to the extent that they promote or detract from happiness • The higher pleasures are more desirable than the baser pleasures • E.g., intellectual pleasures v. physical pleasures

5. History of Justice: 19th Century Thought-ivMill-iii • The standard of happiness is • “Not the agent’s own greatest happiness • But the greatest amount of happiness altogether” • Need for • “General cultivation of nobleness of character” • A society where people can realize • Tranquility • Excitement

6. History of Justice: 19th Century Thought-vMill-iv • The Golden Rule contains the “complete spirit of utility” • How to approach this ideal: • “Laws and social arrangements” • “Education and Opinion”

7. History of Justice: 19th Century Thought-viMill-v • Sanctions • External: “Hope of favor and fear of displeasure from” • Our fellow human beings • God • Internal: The “conscientious feelings of mankind” • Social feelings: a “desire to be in unity with” other people

8. History of Justice: 19th Century Thought-viiMill-vi • On Liberty • Need to avoid tyranny of • One • A few • The majority • The Harm Principle • Based on utility • “Grounded on the permanent interests of man as a progressive being”

9. History of Justice: 19th Century Thought-viiiMill-vii • The appropriate region of human liberty • Inward domain of consciousness • Liberty of tasks and pursuits • Freedom to unite • A society that lacks these liberties is not free

10. Week 8 Unit 5 History of Justice: 19th Century Thought Constitution, Society, and Leadership