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The legal thought of J. S. Mill

Patrick Riley

pp. 623-637

Unlike Jeremy Bentham, J.S. Mill has nothing which could be called a "philosophy of law" or general jurisprudence1 : Indeed his main political work, Representative Government (Mill 1961b), devotes no more than a few passing phrases to law. Nonetheless Mill has a view of law (if not a complete philosophy), and its central premise is this: That those laws only are justifiable which advance "utility in the largest sense" or "the permanent interest of mankind as a progressive being" (Mill 1989b, 14).

Publication details

DOI: 10.1007/978-90-481-2964-5_23

Full citation:

Riley, P. (2009)., The legal thought of J. S. Mill, in E. Pattaro, D. Canale, H. Hofmann & P. Riley (eds.), A treatise of legal philosophy and general jurisprudence 9-10, Dordrecht, Springer, pp. 623-637.

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