Analysis Of John Stuart Mill's The Subjection Of Women

Improved Essays
Mill argued that under freedom of thought the majority of opinions are unsound because society does not consider the minority’s point of view. He believed that the truth could only come from the requirements of an open inquiry to all and not just to the ones that may prove to be right. In other words manipulated and unfairly just actions will produce the wrong outcome. He felt that if the truth was invigorated and supported by becoming exposed and criticized then issue could be viewed as adequate and fair (Philosophy Pages, 2015).

Mill implied that a person’s conduct and concepts deserves to be protected from social violation. A person’s act should be given freely and should not have any influences from customs, expectations, or public opinion. Mills indicated that the choice of behavior should come from the way we ought to be even it happens to be different from what others are not accustomed to (Philosophy Pages, 2015).

Mill stressed that each individual is accountable for their selves that consist of their own feelings, ideas, and interests. However, the state justifies in controlling and limiting the behaviors of those posing harm to others through a violation of their rights.
…show more content…
Mill expressed his belief on the natural superiority of males derived from nothing more than the physical power to gain control over others. This concept is not practiced in areas influenced by political control. He believed that society should create a free market that women can be a part of and ensure the fairness of economic retunes. The patriarchal culture women are limited and confined by social expectations of traditional methods such as marriages that women were often times perceived to have a duty to the husband regardless of her opinions. Mills believed that the husband should not dominate over the wife and vise versa (Philosophy Pages,

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Therefore, Mill would agree that the educational system in his society should repeatedly show students cases of a good action that benefits others versus a bad action that harms others to instill a moral code that functions in his…

    • 1315 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I think Mill’s moral principle is more liked and easy to follow among most people. This is because people like the freedom to do what they please. Being told what to do is just going to cause…

    • 1819 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    John Stuart Mills uses his speech, “Subjection of Women”, as a tool to address parliament about women’s rights. Mills understands that woman deserve to obtain an education because knowledge should be readily available to all since the development of humankind. Mills argues for women’s right to an education through his opinion that "the legal subordination of one sex to another – is wrong in itself, and now one of the chief hindrances to human improvement; and that it ought to be replaced by a system of perfect equality, admitting no power and privilege on the one side, nor disability on the other” (Mills 1061). The power dynamic present among a man and woman perpetuates the inability for women to receive the same rights as men. The primary…

    • 1213 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Just like Rand’s Equality trying to rediscover individuality, John Stuart Mill in his book On Liberty argues about the individuality of mankind. Near the beginning of the book, Mill states his thesis of Individuals having the right to thought. He continues, arguing that the right of thought is not unique to one person nor another in…

    • 1660 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “The oppressed, instead of striving for liberation, tend themselves to become oppressors.” – Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Before the 1909 strike where more than 20,000 garment shirtwaist makers walked out to picket for better wages and improved working conditions, there was the Lowell Mills women who organized to protest wage cuts in 1834 and again in 1836. The rebellious act of the Lowell Mills women was poignant, as it embarked a mass movement for workers’ rights in the United States.…

    • 296 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Attempts to redefine what is right or wrong are numerous in history, albeit rather ineffective. Thus, the question arises as to why it is difficult, if not impossible, to make a clear distinction between just or unjust. It is not feasible because there is no scientific instrument that measures moral conventionalities. Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail both stress the need to prioritize one's conscience over the dictates of laws and encourage non-violent resistance. They address their resolution to disobey authority, especially that of political nature, when a social injustice takes place.…

    • 1249 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved 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

    Mill saw the problem with modern society as resulting from the power of both the tyranny of the majority but also the tyranny of public opinion. He believed that public opinion had grown too strong to the point where “At present individuals are lost in the crowd. In politics it is almost a triviality to say that public opinion now rules the world.” (On Liberty, chapter III). The “lost in the crowd” metaphor is a powerful one that illustrates Mill’s view.…

    • 996 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Mill, to an extent, agrees with Hayek. This is an example of the philosophers agreeing, but for different reasons. Mill believes there should be something similar to a private sphere for the individual. Private sphere, meaning an aspect of an individual’s life outside of government control. A person should be able to do what he wants without interference if it does not hurt or negatively affect another in a substantial way.…

    • 2226 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What is Utilitarianism? Utilitarianism is a philosophical concept that holds an action to be held right if it tends to promote happiness for the greatest number of people. Utilitarian’s define the morally right actions as those actions that maximize happiness and minimize misery. Many believe that utilitarianism is an unrealistic theory. Arguments and responses to utilitarianism being too demanding have been made John Stuart Mill and Peter Singer.…

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved 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 other words, if an individual rejects or contradicts the ideas expressed by the community, the community should be able to force that individual to submit to their opinions. It is at this point in which Rousseau and Mill differ. This act of forcing conformity would be seen as a form of tyranny to Mill who values the freedom of the individual. In order for society to progress, individual freedoms must always be expressed foremost. Indeed, Mill agrees that man should not behave in ways that would harm others but they should still be free to do as they wish.…

    • 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
  • Superior Essays

    The criterion of right and wrong controversy has yet to be concluded though many years of argumentation have ensued. Mill attempts to explain the criterion of right and wrong using the concept of utilitarianism. Utility is not something that should be contrasted with pleasure, but rather pleasure itself with the freedom of pain. The criterion of right and wrongness is introduced for utility as the actions are right in proportion if they promote happiness and are wrong in proportion if they produced the reverse of happiness. Happiness is defined by pleasure and the absence of pain and unhappiness is vice versa.…

    • 1637 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Board of Education, the ruling was merely a check against the majority to protect the rights of minorities. Majority rule is important in a democracy; yet when the majority infringes on rights of minorities, the power of the majority must be diminished in order for society to maintain justice. In Brown, it was noted that, “The plaintiffs contend that segregated public schools are not ‘equal’ and cannot be made ‘equal’ and that hence they are deprive of the equal protection of the laws” (188). It was disclosed that separate educational facilities were unequal and unjust, and thus it may hinder a child from gaining the educational rights he deserves and “to separate…generates a feeling of inferiority as their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone” (189). Segregation prevented minorities from gaining the equal rights they deserved and thus, it was important for them to achieve justice through Brown.…

    • 1346 Words
    • 6 Pages
    • 6 Works Cited
    Superior Essays

Related Topics