Topic four

Topic four
In A Theory of Justice, Rawls maintains that Mill's arguments for liberty will not justify "an equal liberty for all" because "whenever a society sets out to maximize the sum of intrinsic value or the net balance of satisfaction of interests, it is liable to find that the denial of liberty for some is justified in the name of this single end"(p211, 1972). In Polotical Liberalism, Rawls also argues that the maintenance of "one comprehensive religious, philosophical, or moral doctrine" can only be done by the "oppressive use of state power", and that this is true even of a "society united on a reasonable form of utilitarianism, or on the reasonable liberalisms of Kant and Mill"(p.37). Discuss Rawls's comments on Mill's defense of individual liberty and individuality.