UC Davis

This project examines the perspectives of Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, and Henry Sidgwick (together, the “British Utilitarians”) on the government’s role in promoting societal happiness, focusing specifically on their views regarding the appropriate scope of state intervention in society. It primarily explores the British Utilitarian’s attitudes toward both: (I) paternalistic intervention—government interference with the liberty of individuals for the benefit of those interfered with; and (ii) socialistic intervention—government interference with the liberty of individuals for the broader advantage of the community. By engaging the British Utilitarians in conversation with one another, this study examines the extent to which they agree and disagree about the role of state intervention for achieving the utilitarian end—i.e., the greatest happiness of society. Furthermore, it investigates how their disagreements about utilitarianism as an underlying moral framework lead to disagreements among the British Utilitarians on the desirability of certain government interventions.