Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Mill: An Ethical Base for Capitalism

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
A Business Leader’s Guide to Philosophy

  • 248 Accesses

Synopsis

See More

Mill refined the ethical theory of utilitarianism which had taken root in the work of Machiavelli, by giving it a more humane gloss that legitimates its use in business and democratic liberal governments. Mill also has some important things to say about freedom of speech which is controversial today, especially for business leaders. Utilitarianism puts expediency ahead of principle; sometimes the minority has to suffer for the good of the majority. It’s impossible for government and business to satisfy all stakeholders all the time in a trickledown economy, or so this theory goes. Mill, partly influenced by his contact with French socialism, concedes the need for a welfare state, a notion anathema to economic rationalists like Hayek and Friedman.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+
from $39.99 /Month
  • Starting from 10 chapters or articles per month
  • Access and download chapters and articles from more than 300k books and 2,500 journals
  • Cancel anytime
View plans

Buy Now

eBook
USD 23.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 23.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 23.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

') var buybox = document.querySelector("[data-id=id_"+ timestamp +"]").parentNode var buyingOptions = buybox.querySelectorAll(".buying-option") ;[].slice.call(buyingOptions).forEach(initCollapsibles) var buyboxMaxSingleColumnWidth = 480 function initCollapsibles(subscription, index) { var toggle = subscription.querySelector(".buying-option-price") subscription.classList.remove("expanded") var form = subscription.querySelector(".buying-option-form") var priceInfo = subscription.querySelector(".price-info") var buyingOption = toggle.parentElement if (toggle && form && priceInfo) { toggle.setAttribute("role", "button") toggle.setAttribute("tabindex", "0") toggle.addEventListener("click", function (event) { var expandedBuyingOptions = buybox.querySelectorAll(".buying-option.expanded") var buyboxWidth = buybox.offsetWidth ;[].slice.call(expandedBuyingOptions).forEach(function(option) { if (buyboxWidth <= buyboxMaxSingleColumnWidth && option != buyingOption) { hideBuyingOption(option) } }) var expanded = toggle.getAttribute("aria-expanded") === "true" || false toggle.setAttribute("aria-expanded", !expanded) form.hidden = expanded if (!expanded) { buyingOption.classList.add("expanded") } else { buyingOption.classList.remove("expanded") } priceInfo.hidden = expanded }, false) } } function hideBuyingOption(buyingOption) { var toggle = buyingOption.querySelector(".buying-option-price") var form = buyingOption.querySelector(".buying-option-form") var priceInfo = buyingOption.querySelector(".price-info") toggle.setAttribute("aria-expanded", false) form.hidden = true buyingOption.classList.remove("expanded") priceInfo.hidden = true } function initKeyControls() { document.addEventListener("keydown", function (event) { if (document.activeElement.classList.contains("buying-option-price") && (event.code === "Space" || event.code === "Enter")) { if (document.activeElement) { event.preventDefault() document.activeElement.click() } } }, false) } function initialStateOpen() { var buyboxWidth = buybox.offsetWidth ;[].slice.call(buybox.querySelectorAll(".buying-option")).forEach(function (option, index) { var toggle = option.querySelector(".buying-option-price") var form = option.querySelector(".buying-option-form") var priceInfo = option.querySelector(".price-info") if (buyboxWidth > buyboxMaxSingleColumnWidth) { toggle.click() } else { if (index === 0) { toggle.click() } else { toggle.setAttribute("aria-expanded", "false") form.hidden = "hidden" priceInfo.hidden = "hidden" } } }) } initialStateOpen() if (window.buyboxInitialised) return window.buyboxInitialised = true initKeyControls() })()

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles, books and news in related subjects, suggested using machine learning.

Notes

  1. 1.

    Mill and Bentham, Utilitarianism and Other Essays, p. 283.

  2. 2.

    Ibid, p. 292.

  3. 3.

    Ibid, p. 288.

  4. 4.

    Ibid, p. 304.

  5. 5.

    Mill (1974, p. 115).

  6. 6.

    Mill, 1987, p. 306. Emphasis added.

  7. 7.

    Williams (1972, p. 98). See also Coates (1996, pp. 94–5).

  8. 8.

    See, for example, Coates, “Utilitarianism, Oxford Idealism and Cambridge Economics.”

  9. 9.

    White (1996, pp. 110, 12, 14).

  10. 10.

    Mill (1974, pp. 72, 119, 120).

  11. 11.

    Ibid, pp. 59, 68.

  12. 12.

    Ibid, pp. 69, p. 59.

  13. 13.

    Ibid, p. 122.

  14. 14.

    Mill (1993, p. 207). Emphasis added.

  15. 15.

    Ibid, p. 208.

  16. 16.

    von Hayek (1978, p. 139).

References

  • Coates, A.W. 1996. Utilitarianism, Oxford Idealism and Cambridge Economics. In Economics and Ethics? ed. Peter D. Groenewegen. London/New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mill, John Stuart. 1974. On Liberty, ed. Gertrude Himmelfarb. Harmondsworth/Baltimore [etc.]: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1993. Utilitarianism; on Liberty; Considerations on Representative Government; Remarks on Bentham’s Philosophy, ed. Geraint Williams, New ed. London/Rutland: Dent/Tuttle.

    Google Scholar 

  • von Hayek, Friedrich A. 1978. New Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and the History of Ideas. London: Routledge/K. Paul.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • White, Michael V. 1996. Comment. No Matter of Regret. The Cambridge Critique(S) of Jevons’s ‘Hedonics’. In Economics and Ethics? ed. Peter D. Groenewegen. London/New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, Bernard Arthur Owen. 1972. Morality: An Introduction to Ethics. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Highton, VIC, Australia

    Lindsay Dawson

Authors
  1. Lindsay Dawson
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Dawson, L. (2023). Mill: An Ethical Base for Capitalism. In: A Business Leader’s Guide to Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33042-1_4

Download citation

Keywords

Publish with us

Policies and ethics