As John Stuart Mill Might Say

John Stuart Mill is often associated with the philosophy of Utilitarianism. This ethic is often misrepresented as “Do whatever you want as long as it feels good” or “I reject your authority over me”. Or “the greatest good for the greatest number”.

However, those summations are a far reach on what Mills actually says about the ethical compass.

(Michael Tomsky, (NYT 10/17/20) writes that in “On Liberty,” John Stuart Mill wrote that liberty (or freedom) means “doing as we like, subject to such consequences as may follow, without impediment from our fellow creatures, as long as what we do does not harm them even though they should think our conduct foolish, perverse or wrong.”Note the clause “as long as what we do does not harm them.” He tossed that in there almost as a given — indeed, it is a given. This is a standard definition of freedom, more colloquially expressed in the adage “Your freedom to do as you please with your fist ends where my jaw begins.””

Or, to summarize this thinking in the age of COVID, “Wear the Damn Mask!”