Mill's Progressive Principles [Hardcover]

David O. Brink offers a reconstruction and assessment of John Stuart Mill's contributions to the utilitarian and liberal traditions. Brink defends interpretations of key elements in Mill's moral and political thought, and shows how a perfectionist reading of his conception of happiness has a significant impact on other aspects of his philosophy.InMill's Progressive PrinciplesDavid Brink provides a systematic reconstruction and assessment of John Stuart Mill's contributions to the utilitarian and liberal traditions, examining his first principles and their application to issues of representative democracy and sexual equality. Brink defends novel interpretations of key elements in Mill's moral and political philosophy, including his concepts of motivation, happiness, duty, proof, harm and the harm principle, freedom of expression, anti-paternalism, representative democracy and weighted voting, and sexual equality. However, the most distinctive aspect of this account of Mill's commitments is the case it makes for a perfectionist reading of his conception of happiness and the significance this has for other aspects of his moral and political philosophy. On this perfectionist conception, the chief ingredients of happiness involve the exercise of a person's capacities for practical deliberation and decision that mark us as progressive beings. Once this perfectionist theme is made explicit, it can be shown to be central to Mill's views about utilitarianism, liberalism, rights, democratic government, and sexual equality.TABLE OF CONTENTSPrefaceA Note on Mill's Texts1. Mill's Radical Background2. Varieties of Motivation3. Perfectionism about Happiness and Higher Pleasures4. Ambivalence about Duty5. The Justification of Utilitarianism6. Liberal Preliminaries7. Freedom of Expression in a Liberal Context8. Liberal Principles Refined9. Liberalism, Utilitarianism, and Rights10. Liberal Democracy11. Sexual EqualityEpilogueBibliographyIndexDavid O. Brink,University of l“(