In Chapter 2, Mill expands upon some of the social and political implications of utilitarianism. In describing the kinds of social problems that might be easily eradicated from society, he personifies the notion of disease or illness:
Poverty, in any sense implying suffering, may be completely extinguished by the wisdom of society combined with the good sense and providence of individuals. Even that most intractable of enemies, disease, may be indefinitely reduced in dimensions by good physical and moral education and proper control of noxious influences, while the progress of science holds out a promise for the future of still more direct conquests over this detestable foe.
Mill argues that education can help people appreciate the superior pleasures of doing good and helping others over what he considers to be the inferior pleasures of physical satisfaction. An enlightened society, he suggests, would be able to cooperate to eradicate various social ills, including poverty. Further, even “that most intractable of enemies, disease,” might be largely eliminated through what Mill considers to be “good physical and moral education.” Here, he personifies the concept of disease, imagining it as an old enemy of humanity who might be defeated. The “progress of science,” Mill argues, might ultimately bring about a permanent victory over the “detestable foe” of illness. Here, Mill’s language is uncharacteristically emotional as he casts disease as an evil human figure whose defeat would benefit humanity profoundly.
