ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how John Stuart Mill's utilitarian theory incorporates the claim that the demands of social life require a publicly accepted set of normative expectations to govern judgments about when one has met one's obligations and, relatedly, about the appropriateness of blame or punishment. It examines those places where Mill expresses the need for social morality and addresses what is required to maintain its integrity as it develops over time. The chapter shows that Mill demonstrates a remarkable sensitivity to the demands of public reason. Finally, it argues that Mill introduces three main public principles to help us navigate disagreement. The first principle expressed in the chapter, the "presumption in favor of liberty", is a general "non-interference" principle. The second public principle expressed is the presumption in favor of equality. Mill's third public principle, the most famous of them, is the liberty principle.
