On Liberty

Isabella NazarioLA-2nd2/14/18 Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty stands in the New York Harbor and has greeted a lot of immigrants into Ellis Island. At the time, Lady Liberty was letting them know that their journey to find democracy, freedom, and a better way of life, was finally over. The Statue of Liberty stands on Ellis Island as a symbol of freedom. Liberty Enlightening the World" (the full name of the statue) was a gift from France to the United States in 1886. It…

Liberty What exactly does liberty mean? Well, to me it can mean a number of things. First of all, it can mean acting in whatever way you see fit for satisfying your own interests, desires and expectations to the extent that you don’t infringe upon the very same liberties of the others. Secondly, liberty means independence and freedom from physical restraint or external force, and our basic rights that the government cannot take away or interfere with. It is also a concept that protects all…

Liberty and equality are two of the most important principles in politics, as they are part of the foundation of our society. Equality and freedom have generally been portrayed as two conflicting concepts, mainly because in order to achieve equality redistribution of resources is necessary and this would inevitably interfere with the liberty of those who have an abundance of resources and wealth. However, after a closer examination we can see that in many cases an increase in equality results in…

In On Liberty, John Stuart Mill outlines his unique political theory based on the liberty of men in society. His argument stands out because it is not typical social contract theory. It does not begin by examining men in the state of nature, it does not outline an ideal government structure, and the contract itself is vague, though not without a purpose. Mill establishes a social contract through the unconventional means of the “harm principle.” Through it he creates an agreement among men in a…

Sons of Liberty: Fathers of American Activism The United States has a long history of political activism by and for the people, a legacy that continues today. The day after President Donald Trump was inaugurated, more people took to the streets in protest than ever before. That fiercely American action dates back to the Sons of Liberty, a political group that organized for the rights of colonial citizens in the 18th century, against oppressive taxation from Britain (135-136). Many…

John Stuart Mills’ liberty principle states that the only justified use of force from a state is to prevent one individual from harming another. Unlike other views of how the state should wield power, such as paternalism, Mills states that protecting an individual from themselves is not an adequate justification for state intervention. As a follower of Jeremy Bentham, Mills attempted to justify his liberty principle with utilitarianism, rather than a natural rights justification, essentially…

John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty attempts to broaden the meaning of utility and depict the usefulness of utilitarianism in terms of right protection. With this, Mill rejects the coercion of conformity and celebrates individuality. His work can be broken down into two basic principles. The first principle establishes that people are not accountable to society for the actions that only concern themselves. The second, also known as the harm principle, establishes that the individual is accountable for…

of its citizens. In “On Liberty”, John Stuart Mill provides an answer to this question in the form of the harm principle: the sole reason for interfering with the liberty of an individual is to prevent the harm of others (Mill 1859). This principle states that law or moral condemnation should not be used to alter a person’s behaviour unless they are inflicting harm on other people without their consent. Although the harm principle attempts to protect an individual’s liberty, it evidently…

Stuart Mill's takes on a far more political approach in the discussion of human freedom. In his work, On Liberty, Mill focuses on the limits of individuality and the significance of a present minority. Mill first discusses the relationship between liberty and authority. Mill argues that liberty had a changing role when citizens equated liberty to limitations on government. As a result, civil liberty became associated with political rights, specifically the right to self-government. This new…

According to Thomas Jefferson, “Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual” (CITE). When considering a democratic society, one must acknowledge what the highest value of a society is where persons are able to openly voice their opinions and exercise their rights, without…