Critically evaluate J.S. Mill’s argument that justice is compatible with utilitarianism

Write a paper, approximately 5-7 pages, which considers one of the suggested topics below. This is not a long paper, so your writing will have to be efficient. Two things you’re doing in this paper: (i) exposition, i.e., the skillful explanation of a position/argument/view that we’ve been reading about, and (ii) argument, i.e., making your thesis clear and defending it. The main figures for us so far are J.S. Mill and Robert Nozick, so these topics concern their views. You should, of course, be considering objections/criticisms, but you should use these to help explain and analyze the view in question (so, e.g., the topics are not asking you to explain and analyze your personal, idiosyncratic view of justice, but rather Mill’s or Nozick’s; you are making an argument about those views). Critically evaluate J.S. Mill’s argument that justice is compatible with utilitarianism (see esp. Chapter 5 of Utilitarianism, but also consider relevant arguments in On Liberty): (i) explain what you take to be the key features of Mill’s view, (ii) consider what you take to be the most interesting and/or effective criticism of Mill here, and (iii) imagine what his response would be to the criticism you consider. Make sure that it is clear whether you think Mill can handle the objection you consider since this will become part of the main thesis of the paper: are you ultimately saying that Mill’s theory is a good one, or not?

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