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John Stuart Mill on Liberty
In John Stuart Mill's brilliant 19th Century essay "On Liberty" he states that "the worth of a State, in the long run, is the worth of the individuals composing it." What Mills is purporting in that statement is that the State (the government) must not impede on the natural development of individual liberty. We are never to forget that we have inalienable rights for life and liberty. These rights are as natural as the air we breathe. No government or group of thugs can ever deny our natural pursuits of liberty and freedom. The entire essay stresses the need of what liberty is to be understood and constituted in our lives, and to be warned of external pressures that would impede our basic civil liberties; essentially, he warns that individuals reacting under the conscious of a single, civil mindset to exert chic laws may infringe upon our rights. This mindset would be formed based on a set of circumstances that are presented, forcing others to conform and...
People are natural reactionaries, they are responsive to various stimuli that might infringe upon basic human rights because they respond emotionally rather than through logical thought of action. Mill emphasizes the point that an individual's life must be rewarding through their work and lifestyle, that an individual must have a foundation of education and knowledge. By building the internal and external wealth of an individual you can build a community with a majority of people who will act appropriately to an event that may affect the community rather than react inappropriately and infringe upon the rights of others. It is a balance of power, an equilibrium that is constantly tested between liberty and security. We know today that most crimes are committed by individuals who are frustrated by their lifestyle and lash out emotionally, that they lack the full education to better their way of life and avoid pursing a crime. People must be allowed to have…
John Stuart Mill's concept of liberty professes to be liberal but ends up with a distinctly 'non-liberal' feel when analysing the details. This paper endeavours to define exactly what Mills' notion of liberty is and how it should be regulated by studying his book "On Liberty." The main discrepancies of his theory will be highlighted so as to demonstrate the apparent contradiction between his ideology and the examples he chooses
Moreover, how does he justify saying one would rather be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool who is satisfied? His point is obvious - it is better to have brains and not achieve happiness than be dumb and be contented. But Socrates, brilliant as he was, chose death over exile from Athens, which it can be argued did not lead to happiness in Socrates nor in the students who admired
Unfortunately, we have had no more success at finding that limit than Mill did, for what we see all around us today is that very same "political despotism" of which Mill speaks with trepidation. Mill writes that it is the "majority" who makes "the ways of mankind" (102-3), but his notion of "majority rule" appears to be based on the assumption that political despotism has not been enshrined. Majority rule
Personal usefulness or utility is not required to clash with public usefulness. Usefulness or Utility is often misguided for pragmatism. but, pragmatism is the affinity to encourage certain preferred objective, regardless of the consideration between what is correct and reasonable. Utility is the standard level of being practical, and hence it must take into account not just what would generate a preferred objective, but what would encourage the maximum
Liberty, by John Stuart Mill [...] how John Stuart Mill would view the issue of pornography. Pornography has been argued by many feminists and advocates for women's rights to be pernicious to women because it eroticizes and promotes relationships of inequality and subordination of women to men. For this reason, they argue that pornography should be censored. What you think Mill would say about this? Would Mill be a
Political Philosophy II: Theories of Freedom John Stuart Mill's On Liberty is one of the foundational defenses of liberal, democratic government. According to Mill, there are certain core principles "that should regulate how governments and societies, whether democratic or not, can restrict individual liberties."[footnoteRef:1] Mill wrote that regardless of whether a monarch, dictator, or even a democratic majority governed, the only reason to deprive others of their liberties was what he