PHIL 307 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Harm Principle
26 May 2016
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Document Summary
To show that we should accept the harm principle, what mill sets up is that accepting this as a political morality will have better consequences than not doing so. Mill argues that the harm principle is justified by the utility principle. If you want to maximize benefit by minimizing damage and interfering paternalistically minimizes damage, then you should interfere under the utilitarian principle. It seems that mill, as a utilitarian, is saying something that he shouldn"t be saying. Mill says that the government shouldn"t interfere paternalistically. If you do this, other people can see the consequences and then change their behavior so that they aren"t harmed themselves. Mills make two points about why a person is the best judge of his own. He cares more about himself than anybody else does. We all benefit from the exercise of liberty by others around us. He develops it first in the realm of speech and expression.
