John Stuart Mill Ethical Analysis

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John Stuart Mill and Immanuel Kant views can be applied to see if prison labor is generally good or wheatear it is bad and should be prohibited. Both Mill and Kant views can be applied to justify both ends of the spectrum. Mill’s argument revolves around Utilitarianism; that action is right if they are useful or beneficial for the majority. While Kant’s argument revolved around the preservation of one’s autonomy. The prison labor industry is an 8.9 billion dollar industry. This industry benefits America because it pumps more money into our economy, instead of cheap labor being done over sea and that money is going into another nation’s economy. By applying Mill’s greater happiness principle to justify this action because overall all of …show more content…
Mill would be in favor of this view because prison labor is beneficial overall to our society because it brings a decline in criminals and crime. A counter argument to this view can be that prison labor is the equivalence of involuntary servitude. Prisoners are exploited as slave for cheap labor in America. The amount they are being paid is similar to what people who are exploited around the world for cheap labor are paid; for example, in the Congo people are exploited by Nestle and GAP exploit labor in Thailand. Both companies face scrutiny for the wages they pay to workers, prison labor industry should be held to the same level of scrutiny since they are doing the same thing. Prison labor exploit prisoners meaning the industry is using prisoners as a mere means, which Kant emphasizes that we should never …show more content…
While both men hold separate views, Mill believing in Utilitarianism and Kant believing in autonomy their views can overlap to represent both sides of the argument. My personal view is that prison labor should exist in America. However, it should be heavily regulated. The labor the prisoners do should not be too severe or backbreaking. I believe the wages being paid are ridiculously low, with a wage of 20 cents an hour a prisoner would not have money left over after paying court obligation, child support for spending or release saving. The producers gain close to a 100% profit minus the cost of material since the labor is so cheap. I don’t believe tax dollars should not be going to pay the prisoners. Instead, I believe the company employing them should be giving them at least half of the minimum wage in the state they are located. In addition, no one should be forced to work, which is implemented in some states. A person should be allowed to choose if they want to work for this wage or not so their autonomy does not get breeched and they are not used as a mere
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