Will, Utilitarianism, Libertarianism

While Moore, Kantianism, and Dewey offer significant criticisms of Utilitarianism, perhaps the most decisive one comes from elsewhere in the oeuvre of Mill himself. For, in contrast with the descriptivist Universalism of his Utilitarianism, is the prescriptivist Individualism of his own Libertarian doctrine. In the few passages in which he seems to recognize that conflict, he accords priority to Utilitarianism, i. e. by arguing that even personal freedom is conditioned by its consequences for general happiness. In so doing, however, he briefly exposes the prescriptivism of his Utilitarianism, i. e. by arguing that, in some circumstances, one should not perform an entertained possible action. In the process, he, furthermore, reveals how Utilitarianism entails Will. For, the argument that one should consider more than one's own interests entails that one should extend oneself towards as many others as possible, i. e. will is the principle of self-extending in Experience.