Understanding John Stuart Mill

By: Laurence Houlgate
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  • Summary

  • This multi-episode podcast is hosted by Professor Laurence Houlgate, Ph.D. The podcast is based on Houlgate's best-selling study guide Understanding John Stuart Mill: The Smart Student's Guide to Utiltarianism and On Liberty, two books he taught during a long career as a university professor of philosophy.
    This podcast is about Utilitarianism. A later podcast will be about Mill's On Liberty. Students will learn much more about Mill's classic books if they purchase Houlgate's guide-book Understanding John Stuart Mill and/or Mill's original books (Utilitarianism and On Liberty), available at low cost on Amazon.com or at your favorite book store.
    Having the book on hand while Professor Houlgate talks and comments will help listeners focus during the episode and mark off those sections they would like to read again after the broadcast.
    Each episode will be aired on Mondays at 5 p.m. Pacific Time.
    Copyright Laurence Houlgate
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Philosophy Social Sciences
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Episodes
  • Understanding J.S. Mill's Utilitarianism, EP 14, Laudable Injustice

    Understanding J.S. Mill's Utilitarianism, EP 14, Laudable Injustice
    Dec 20 2022
    "Laudable injustice" looks like a contradiction, but Mill uses these words to describe what happens when an act or omission that is unjust in most cases is justifiable in a small group of other cases. Mill uses the example of kidnapping a doctor at gunpoint and forcing the reluctant doctor to treat a dying child. In this final episode we apply Mill' idea of laudable injustice to the famous Trolley Problem. If you don't know what that is, then come join us.
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    17 mins
  • Understanding J.S. Mill's Utilitarianism, EP 13 Justice and Utility (cont.)

    Understanding J.S. Mill's Utilitarianism, EP 13 Justice and Utility (cont.)
    Dec 13 2022
    This episode begins with an imaginary conversation between Mill and John Locke about the idea of natural rights. Mill rejects the idea of rights that exist outside of civil society and Locke has difficulty responding without engaging in circular reasoning. The remainder of the episode is an account of how difficult it is to use the idea of justice in the debate about the morality of abortion.
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    16 mins
  • Understanding J.S. Mill's Utilitarianism, EP 12, Feelings of Justice and the Idea of a Right

    Understanding J.S. Mill's Utilitarianism, EP 12, Feelings of Justice and the Idea of a Right
    Dec 6 2022
    In this episode I explain Mill's account of "feelings" of justice and injustice, and how Mill ties this concept to the idea of a violation of a moral or legal rule and the idea of punishment. I will also discuss Mill's concept of "a right" and what it means to say that one does or does not have a right to something (e.g. life, liberty, or a cup of coffee).
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    17 mins

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