The Concept of Public Interest in the Light of John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism and Its Comparison with the Thought of Jeremy Bentham

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Ahmadreza Soltanian
Master's student in Public Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Allameh Tabatabaei University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/lc.2025.552155.1699
Abstract
The public interest is one of the most fundamental concepts in public law, and its importance can be regarded as comparable to that of freedom of will in private law.  However, thinkers and scholars have long presented diverse interpretations of this concept. The discourse on the very nature of public interest appears inexhaustible, as it seems impossible to arrive at a single, universally accepted definition. Nevertheless, efforts to reduce the conceptual ambiguity and to explore the diverse interpretations of public interest provide us with a deeper understanding of this notion. This Research Using library resources in a descriptive-analytical method first examines the historical evolution of the concept of public interest and explains how it evolved from the idea of the common good and eventually replaced it in modern thought .then analyzes the major theoretical perspectives on the subject and briefly presents the diverse views of different schools of thought regarding the concept of public interest. It proceeds to discuss John Stuart Mill’s utilitarianism, clarifying its distinctions from Jeremy Bentham’s version of utilitarianism, which has been more extensively addressed in legal literature. Finally, the paper argues that Mill’s interpretation of utilitarianism, with its emphasis on the quality of pleasures, moral development, and respect for individual rights, can provide a theoretical foundation for a more balanced understanding of the concept of public interest in contemporary legal systems, particularly in societies where individual rights and freedoms are sometimes violated in the name of public interest.
Keywords
Public Interest
Utilitarianism
Public Rights
Individual Freedom Rights

Subjects