Abstract

Mill was not only a philosopher but also a public intellectual, and it is difficult to make compatible an active role in politics with the search of personal and intellectual integrity. This article deals with that problem and in this way with Mill’s approach to the relation between ethics and politics. Mill devised a set of rules to make morally acceptable compromise decisions in politics. I study how this compromise rules are coherent with his general outlook on the science and practice of politics. My point is that Mill defended a kind of political prudence, and that he admitted ultimate conflict of values without abandoning the Principle of Utility at a more general level