The ends don’t always justify the means. Mill also believes in free will which has its issues. People can’t be trusted, because if people were given complete freedom to decide how and when to act in attaining greater good, they would all be selfish. People would act on selfish reasons and justify their actions as if they were for the greater good.…
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.…
He also argued that we should have more faith in the process of discussion, rather than the process of our own beliefs. When societies continue to conform to the authority (the government in this particular case) discussions cease to exist, and “dead dogma” occurs. Mill gave the example of religion, more specifically Christianity, to demonstrate how people follow tradition in a way that doesn’t challenge them to think for themselves. The Christians went about their lives following church rituals without asking any questions of why they followed them. This is a perfect example of why Mill would argue that this is why we need more people like the creators of the “Don’t Tread on me” website.…
All of their actions are a ‘matter of common concern’ and affect the society as a whole (Hobhouse, 1911:120). In this sense, the author argues with Mill’s “Harm Principle”, as Mill claimed that ‘the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others’ (Mill,1859:14). In contrast to that, Hobhouse suggested that there is no aspect of the life of an individual which is indifferent to the society and can be ignored. According to his beliefs, “humanity lies deeper than all distinctions of rank, and class, and colour … and of sex” (Hobhouse,1911:121). This means that there have to be certain conditions in the society of human growth, as “the foundation of liberty is the idea of growth”(Hobhouse,1911:122).…
Mill’s On Liberty and Marx’s The Communist Manifesto are both political works about how they believe the government should be run in which they both believe that the people should not be oppressed by the government or other people. However, both differ in their opinions of what type of form a government should be; Mill believes that the government should take on the form of liberalism where it plays a limited role on society that emphasizes on individual freedom and freedom from tyranny of the majority. Marx on the other hand, believes that communism is an ideal form for a government where it will emphasize equality for the people that will eliminate exploitation among one group of people over another. While Mill believes human nature is detached…
John Stuart Mill's straight line philosophy known as utilitarianism establishes order and preserves community. In short, the opportunity to ponder upon these diverse philosophies presents an abundance of ideas this composition does not have time…
Mill responds to the objection by stating that no ethic system requires an action to have a reason behind it, but when we do something it should be out of a feeling that we need to. Although the motive is not based on morals, and most of the actions we do are to benefit the world. (Mill 18). To Mill this is a requirement that is too strict. This requirement asks society to always be interest in promoting the happiness.…
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.…
John Stuart Mill is known for being one of the contributors of consequentialism and he introduced utilitarianism as another type of ethics. Many people consider this type of ethics problematic because it is based on a morally right or wrong actions of someone and the way they perform. People who apply this kind of ethics believe that harming others could be morally correct…
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…
The Philosophers Mill and Kant provide divergent views on morals and ethics. Mill 's philosophy of Utilitarianism and Kant 's philosophy of Categorical impartial are two examples. Kant’s philosophy is a theory that People should do the right thing, even if that produces more harm than doing the wrong thing. Mills philosophy is a theory that the action that makes the most overall happiness is what is morally…
Mill believes that ethics are measured based on the consequences of individual deeds and also in consequentialism, or utilitarianism, which is the doctrine that decides what actions are right and if they are useful or for the benefit of a majority. Utilitarianism never really relies on ill-defined instinct or intellectual principles, but it allows philosophers as well as psychologists to determine what makes people happy and which policies promote the social “good”. In order for Utilitarianism to work appropriately, the interests of each individual is required and each individual 's interest must be thought of equally. Mill uses the “Quantity/Quality” distinction to be able to tell which pleasure is most desired. For example, Qualitative pleasure in a small amount are more important than a Quantitative pleasure in a larger amount and a small qualitative issue is more important than a large quantitative issue.…
John Stuart mill in his autobiography “A Crisis in My Mental History One Stage Onward” (1909-14),argues that you should not look for happiness but you should help others and on the way you will find your happiness. He supports his claim by first saying that if we focus on others mankind will be better and we all would be able to find happiness. Mill’s purpose is to show that if we all were nice to each other and helped each other the world would be better. He creates a serious tone for his American audience. What I thought of John Stuart mill’s autobiography.…
In ethics there are hundreds of theories that try to define morality. Utilitarianism is one of these theories that seems to simply be that if one is being moral, their decisions will create the greatest amount of happiness for everyone (Clark & Poortenga, 2003). This theory has been defended by many, including Jeremey Bentham, who popularized quantitative utilitarianism, and John Stuart Mill, who believed that utilitarianism was actually qualitative (Wilkens, 2011). While utilitarianism as a whole can seem clear-cut, John Stuart Mill’s theory of qualitative utilitarianism has many ethical problems, and is too simple to accurately address every moral decision. Utilitarianism is a fairly popular viewpoint when it comes to morality because it…
Mill believes that he figured out a way to overcome the opportunity for immoral acts to take place. But even Mill’s distinction of the…