The Utilitarianism

and the 1868 Speech on Capital Punishment

Hackett Publishing
John Stuart Mill, edited by George Sher
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This expanded edition of John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism includes the text of his 1868 speech to the British House of Commons defending the use of capital punishment in cases of aggravated murder. The speech is significant both because its topic remains timely and because its arguments illustrate the applicability of the principle of utility to questions of large-scale social policy.

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