John Stuart Mill and Slavery Anonymous College

In the mind of John Stuart Mill, free education for children is one of the major duties of society in order to maximize not only happiness but a higher form of pleasure. In fact, John Stuart Mill’s version of utilitarianism was the basis of most of his liberal beliefs including the emancipation of slaves and equal rights for women. In his response to Thomas Carlyle on the subject of slavery, he states “Work, I imagine, is not a good in itself. There is nothing laudable in work for work’s sake. To work voluntarily for a worthy object is laudable; but what constitutes a worthy object?” (Mill, Jan 1850) Utilitarianism renders Carlyle’s main argument that slavery is good for the slave because the slave is put to work moot.

This characterizes much of Mill’s philosophy. John Stuart Mill encapsulates utilitarianism when he states that: “The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure.” (Mill, 1863) While this statement makes utilitarianism...