the fact that something is desired proves that it is desirable. Chapter 5 The fifth and longest chapter concludes by discussing what Mill considers "the only real difficulty" with utilitarian ethics: whether it might sometimes license acts of flagrant injustice. Critics of utilitarianism often claim that judging actions solely in terms of their effects on the general happiness is incompatible with a robust respect for individual rights and a duty to treat people as they deserve. Mill appreciates the force of this objection and argues that feelings of justice are rooted in both a natural human desire to retaliate for injuries and a natural instinct for sympathy for those who have been wrongly injured; that justice has a utilitarian basis since an injustice is committed only when a person's rights have been violated, and an alleged right should be protected by society only when doing so promotes the general happiness; that people disagree deeply about what sorts of things are and are not just, and utilitarianism provides the only rational basis for resolving such conflicts. Influence Mill's Utilitarianism remains "the most famous defense of the utilitarian view ever written" and is still widely assigned in university ethics courses around the world. Largely owing to Mill, utilitarianism rapidly became the dominant ethical theory in Anglo-American philosophy. Though some contemporary ethicists would not agree with all elements of Mill's moral philosophy, utilitarianism remains a live option in ethical theory today. See also Annals of the Parish, by John Galt References Bibliography Further reading External links Full text version of "Utilitarianism.com" Fraser's Magazine, vol. 64, containing the first version (1861) of Mill's Utilitarianism as a series of three articles (p. 391-406, 525-534, 659-673). Mill, J.S. Utilitarianism. Parker, Son, and Bourn: London, 1863, a digitised copy from the Internet Archive. Mill, J.S. Utilitarianism, second edition. Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green: London, 1864, a digitised copy from Google Book Search. Mill, J.S. Utilitarianism, third edition. Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer: London, 1867, a digitised copy from Google Book Search. Contains Utilitarianism, slightly modified for easier reading Mill, J.S. Utilitarianism, fourth edition. Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer: London, 1871, a digitised copy from Google Book Search. Utilitarianism, 7th edition, 1879 at Project Gutenberg Utilitarianism (1871 edition, transcribed by the Fair Use Repository) Utilitarianism (1863 edition, transcribed by the University of Adelaide Library) Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism 1863 non-fiction books Books by