Quotation
Last reviewed:
“Justice is a name for certain moral requirements, which, regarded collectively, stand higher in the scale of social utility.”
John Stuart Mill · Liberalism · Modern · 1863
What does it mean?
Justice, he says, is a name for certain moral requirements which, taken together, stand higher in the scale of social utility than other demands. He is refusing both a justice that floats free of consequences and a utility that cannot explain why rights feel different from kindness. A rival reading, Rawls later among them, says this still lets justice be traded away when the sum of utility is large enough. He thinks the utility of security is so great that the feeling of an absolute right is explained, not debunked.
Did John Stuart Mill really say this?
The library’s label is Well attested. Mill's English near the end of the chapter on justice. He argues that justice is not a separate foundation from utility. It is a set of requirements with unusually high social usefulness, tied to security.
Where it comes from
Utilitarianism, chapter 5
Approximate date: 1863.
How to use it
A council in Liverpool proposes to break a clear rule because the overall benefit looks larger. Mill does not say the feeling of injustice is an illusion. He says it names requirements that sit high in the scale. Ask how high, and what security is lost. The question is the chapter. A shrug that 'it's all utility' is not.
A mindset reading
He is not abandoning the creed and he is not ignoring the objection. Chapter 5 is the attempt to show that a utilitarian can mean what people mean by injustice. The attempt can fail. It is still the attempt to read.
Understand the philosophy
The chapter ties justice to rights, and rights to security, which he thinks is the most vital of all interests. That is why justice outranks ordinary expediency in his scale. The scale is still a utilitarian scale. That is the point his critics will not let him forget.
- justice
- ethics
- society
FAQ
What does it mean?
Justice, he says, is a name for certain moral requirements which, taken together, stand higher in the scale of social utility than other demands. He is refusing both a justice that floats free of consequences and a utility that cannot explain why rights feel different from kindness. A rival reading, Rawls later among them, says this still lets justice be traded away when the sum of utility is large enough. He thinks the utility of security is so great that the feeling of an absolute right is explained, not debunked.
Did John Stuart Mill really say this?
Well attested. Mill's English near the end of the chapter on justice. He argues that justice is not a separate foundation from utility. It is a set of requirements with unusually high social usefulness, tied to security.
Which work is it in?
Utilitarianism, chapter 5 Approximate date: 1863.