Liberdade e individualismo no pensamento de J. S. Mill

Abstract

The present dissertation is an investigation in the field of modern moral philosophy, about the appearance of a constitutive feature of the main modern moral theories: the individualism. This concept is examined, especially in the light of practical philosophy of John Stuart Mill. The investigation begins with the analysis of the emergence of modern natural rights tradition, which rose with the scope of equating moral dilemmas coming from a particular historical and cultural context. Then is investigated the appearance of utilitarian moral tradition and its critique of modern natural law. Next, is analyzed how utilitarianism itself, however, becomes the object of criticism which incides on what would be a) its inability to elaborate a conception of qualitatively distinct human life from the life of other animals; b) about the insufficient consideration of utilitarianism over individual freedoms. The dissertation investigates therefore Mill's efforts to confront such criticisms and thus "re-describe" the utilitarian tradition. Mill's attempts to answer criticisms of utilitarianism turn him away from the classic formulation of this school of thought. Mill becomes thus a sui generis utilitarian. The present dissertation suggests that Mill, by targeting protect the utilitarianism from the criticisms that this tradition received, elaborates one of the most influential individualistic moral theories of contemporaneity.