I doubt that the stringent and sweeping protection of individual liberty that Mill advocates can be convincingly defended on utilitarian grounds -- Robert Adams ( Finite and Infinite Goods: A Framework for Ethics, p. 329).
Mill's robust celebration of individuality is the most distinctive contribution of 'On Liberty'. But it is also a kind of heresy. Since it appeals to moral ideals beyond utility -- ideals of character and human flourishing -- it is not really an elaboration of Bentham's principle ( of Utilitarianism) but a renunciation of it, despite Mill's claim to the contrary -- Michael Sandel ( Justice: What's the Right Thing to do?, pp. 51-52).
Mill may be liberals' most celebrated philosopher because of his defence of individual liberty in his essay 'On Liberty'. Yet by defending Utilitarianism, I think, he has compromised consistency in his thought. As Sandel points out, to defend individual liberty Mill points to excellence.
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