Liberty And Authority In John Stuart Mill's On Liberty Mill

Improved Essays
In the book “On Liberty” mill argues the majority over the thoughts, discussion and action. Mill starts with an exchange of the authentic movement of the battle amongst Liberty and Authority. For most of mankind's history, this was a challenge between the subjects and their rulers, with the rulers considered as one representing station in an essentially hostile position to the general population whom they administered. It was the objective of loyalists as far as possible to the energy of this administering class in two routes: initially, to get an acknowledgment of certain insusceptibilities from strong intimidation with respect to the legislature called rights, and second to build up an assortment of agents of the general population, for example, a parliament or congress to check …show more content…
It soon turned out to be certain that the concealment of freedom was available not just when the interests of the general population were clashed with the interests of the decision few, yet while clashing interests were available among the general population themselves. The majority who practice the power, are not generally similar individuals with those over whom it is worked out, and the self- government talked about isn't simply the administration of each, yet of each by all the rest. The will of the individuals, besides, for all intents and purposes implies, the will of the most various or the most dynamic piece of the general population; the larger part, or the individuals who prevail with regards to making themselves acknowledged as the lion's share: the general population, subsequently, may want to abuse a piece of their number; and safety measures are as genuinely necessary against this, as against some other mishandle of energy. The privileges of the general population did not should be shielded just from their pioneers, yet from the overarching suppositions of the general public in which they

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The world is a vast place, filled with numerous individuals, all characterized by unique qualities. John Stuart Mill, a 19th century writer, philosopher, and businessman who placed great importance on those who find and offer new ideas, theorized that the two primary qualities in life were originality and genius. An original person is one who is independent of all others and is unique in all that they do, and someone who displays genius is unusually intelligent and creative. In “Genius and Originality”, Mill suggests that these qualities are indispensable in society since they prevent life and knowledge from becoming static, and without them, society cannot progress. He proposes that conformity is preventing genius and originality from flourishing, while freedom allows them to thrive.…

    • 1197 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    An astounding fact about the United States government is that someone who received only half of all American votes is now in charge of leading the country. In 2012, President Obama won the election with 303 of the 509 Electoral Votes, yet 48.4% of people still voted for Mitt Romney. While this result represents the resolution of an undemocratic form of election, the Electoral College, if the United States practiced pure democracy (similarly to ancient Athenians) the result would have remained the same. However, the fact remains that the United States is not a democracy; it is a democratic republic. While the Constitution cannot be looked at as a purely democratic document, it was never written with that intention.…

    • 1585 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    He believes that tyranny of the majority may allow society to infringe on individual freedom will lead to conformity and oppresses and threatens an individual’s freedom, helping it to promote social censorship. For example, Mill stated that tyranny of the majority is more horrible than political oppression because it will affect and permeate people’s lives more, (Mill, Pg. 4) This shows that regular people such as family, friends, colleagues, and classmates will have more of a direct impact on an individual than people at the political or national level, showing that it is not the government or society that needs to be in check, but the other individuals or group of people that are harming the individual. Mill explains that people who wants freedom from social tyranny has to resist social conformity and moral behaviors that does not fit with their ideals, beliefs, or lifestyles, in which society at this point is a tyrant that enslaves the soul. Protection must be made on the basis of principle and can only stop if the individual do harm to society…

    • 1913 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    John Stuart Mill, a philosopher during the mid-1800’s, is known as one of the most important western political philosophers in the past three hundred years. Many of his arguments on freedom can be seen intertwined with the current way we run societies around the world today. Being a self proclaimed Utilitarian, Mill focuses his arguments on making the collective reside with the most utility possible, with utility being defined by happiness. To achieve maximum utility, Mill presents three larger arguments,the harm principle, experiments of living, and freedom of speech. Before one can begin to agree or criticize Mill's arguments they must first delve into the core of Mill’s teachings, the harm principle.…

    • 1836 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Canada is widely known and thought of as being a democratic county where freedom of speech is naturally given to everyone. However, during situations of opposing views and national conflicts, a very common question rises – are Canadian citizens actually free to speak without limitations? In On Liberty, John Stuart Mill explores the limitations and regulations on freedom of speech and formulates a theory that the intervention of government would result in degeneration of freedom of speech for citizens. However, in the situation in the episode of ‘The Agenda’, his theory gets challenged due to its ineffectiveness.…

    • 1908 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Enlightenment ideas were highly embodied in the declaration of United State Independence. The major enlightenment ideas highlighted that each and every citizen has the right to reason, autonomy, and the notion that all human beings are equal by nature. In addition, enlightenment ideas stated that the government and religion are separate. In this essay, I will highlight how the different enlightenment ideas were embodied in the declaration of Independence in the United State of America.…

    • 980 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    First the citizens must give themselves up to the law of the society, they must allow restrictions and limits to be placed upon them for the society to run effectively. Secondly the citizens must put themselves under the protection of the society and trust that they will be defended and taken care of. When this trust is given to the society and the government then they can effectively protect and ensure “the peace, safety, and public good of the people. This is contrary to what Mill would argue as he does not believe citizens should submit themselves to society and give away their rights. He believes that as an individual citizen you should fight for your opinion and never give into society.…

    • 1161 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    In order to guarantee the loyalty of its members, the law should also appropriately protect the individual freedom of its people. In regards to Mill, it appears that he somewhat agrees with Rousseau’s argument of the function of government. Mill argues for a representative democracy that would facilitate the development and evolution of liberty for its members. He believed that a representative democracy would only represent the interests of its people and would therefore lessen the resistance between the ruler and its people. Mill…

    • 1838 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Mill’s’ essay also argues that freedom of speech and diversifying opinions act as a fuel that drives social progress. Mill states, “... the only unfailing and permanent source of improvement is liberty, since by it there are as many possible independent centres of improvement as there are individuals” (Mill 65). One can gather that Mill believes that liberty is necessary for improvement and the more liberty present in individual members of society the more persons influencing change. This is an important message for our society to receive and is in accordance with our liberal democratic society. It demonstrates the importance of individuals and how their freedoms positively contribute to society because, as Mill bluntly states, without individuality…

    • 2454 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mill Vs Rousseau Analysis

    • 1418 Words
    • 6 Pages

    John Stuart Mill the liberal and Jean-Jacques Rousseau the republican, are two political philosophers whom focussed on the integration of political liberty with the relationship found between that of the individual, society and the state by the means of power or authority. Both of these political thinkers formed their arguments in their writings, namely; On Liberty (1859) by Mill, and The Social Contract (1913) by Rousseau. On a more specific scale, their views differed in much contrast, whereby Rousseau claims that people and individuals of society may only acquire the entity of freedom through a transitioning process from the natural state to the civil state, whereby they would have to conform to the general will as the common good. On the…

    • 1418 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In “On Liberty” JS Mill suggests that conformity hurts both individuals and the societies they live in. He argues that it leads to an ineffective political rule because when a majority public opinion is formed, any nonconformist ideology or person is cast aside and loses its influence to change the society it is a part of, even if that influence might be beneficial. This thought can also be applied to our government today. In our case there is not one majority but a bi-polar spectrum that has stayed consistent for over 100 years, and the social pressure is to identify with one party or the other. Mill argues that when social pressure is upheld strongly by a particular society, those who try to shift the norm can be seen as “wild” or…

    • 1013 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    English philosopher, political economist, and liberal John Stuart Mill published one of his most famous works in 1859: On Liberty. Mill explores the innate and given liberties of people, analyzing what is the extent in which society or government has valid reasons to exercise power over its people. He argues that the individual should not be under the jurisdiction of society or government if their actions are not harming anyone but themselves. The only time society or government should involve themselves and exert power over citizens is if the actions of the individual are harming others within the society.…

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Summum bonum is the highest form of good according to the values and priorities in an ethical system. For John Stuart Mill, the summum bonum is happiness. Mill is lead to this belief by regarding happiness as the ultimate aim of humanity – to live a life as free from pain and as rich in enjoyment as possible. This is the ideology of utilitarianism, or Mill’s moral theory that judges the ethicality of an action following its utility. Mill’s argument of chapter 2 of Utilitarianism is defining the greatest happiness principle and addressing misconceptions and criticisms opponents have.…

    • 1076 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Mills argues, “[i]f all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.” His justification of this is the belief that the loss of diversity in thought amongst society would deprive them of enrichment in knowledge. Mill believes freedom of speech should only be limited when harming others. In his famous corn dealer example (2002, pp. 46-47) he explains that individuals should be permitted to say as they wish without any restrictions as long as they do not harm others however, taking offence is understandable.…

    • 1624 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Comparing Rousseau and Mill on Liberty In this essay, I would like to contrast and compare the concept of liberty in Jean Jacques Rousseau's “the Social Contract Theory”, which was written in 1762 and J.S. Mill's On liberty, which was written in 1859. In a fact, the authors were born different century and also, had different ideas. They were successfully influence the society by sharing their ideas. In the writings, both Rousseau and Mill mainly discourses about the relationship between authority and one's liberty. First, I would like to examine both Rousseau's and Mill's schemas and then compare their thoughts.…

    • 1941 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays