John Stuart Mill And Liberalism Essay

rear end Stuart plodding (May 20, 1806, Pentonville, England May 8, 1873, Avignon, France) was hotshot of the corkingest and close important spacious thinkers of the XIX century and also a famous political economic expert and a Liberal Member of Parliament from 1865 to 1868 (Plank). As a great(p) thinker, dweeb introduced a new doctrine of liberty and ordure be considered as a first-rate blanket(a) and a second-rate utilitarian (Reeves). bottom Stuart powder (Source httpwww. liberalinternational. orgeditorial. aspia_id=685)Conceived for the first time as a in brief essay in 1854, Mills famous and enormously influential book On Liberty that he published in 1859 is considered one of the founding philosophical works of classical liberalism and also one of the most fundamental texts on the concept of liberty. In the book which concerns social and civilian liberty, the philosopher explores the nature of the power that society bathroom legitimately maintain everyplace in dividuals, and advocates their moral and economic freedom from the state (John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill Political Philosopher).The most important point and basis for liberty do by Mill in his book is that Over himself, everywhere his feature body and mind, the individual is sovereign. Individuals exercise their reign both by dint of their judgment and actions. The main ideas that Mill explains in his On Liberty could be checkinged into the following sections. 1. Mill opens his treatise by pointing out that the regularisement is a dangerous weapon if it is non appropriately controlled and if its authority is not circumscribed by the liberty of the citizens. In this way, Mill suggests, citizens will be govern by a judicature whose rule is guaranteed against oppression and totalism.However, at a launchn stage society develops into democracy Page 2 which does not fear tyranny any longer but where the majority can easily criminalize or marginalize a minority group of s ociety and encroach on their rights or liberty. Mill calls it the tyranny of the majority and believes it is much worse than the tyranny of government because it is easier for individuals to be protected from a tyrant than against the tyranny of the prevailing opinion and feeling. He saw a danger of the old repression of despotic rulers being replaced by authoritarianism of custom.Rules of conduct, thus, would be based on the majority opinion and in that location would be no protection in law against its tyranny (John Stuart Mill). He emphasizes that social tyranny is the greater danger than political tyranny for redbrick nations such as Britain (Heydt). As in Mills view the prevailing opinions within society be not necessarily the reclaim opinions on the one hand, and an individual has the right to choose whatever taste for his moral beliefs on the other hand, Mill concludes that this situation is wrong and unjust.In this case, individuals will be uponed, then their sovere ignty over themselves will be impaired (John Stuart Mill). 2. Mill argues for a need of rational principle that would govern individuals within society, and thus introduces and explains his so-called harm principle which is supposed to form the limits of intervention in an individuals actions. Individuals can act as they wish as long as their actions do not harm other individuals.Society should not intervene if the action affects only the individuals that guarantee it even though these individuals ar harming themselves. In Mills view, in a civilized community society has the right to legitimately exercise power over any individual against his will only in order to prevent harm to others. However, Mill distinguishes two categories of harms. If an individual fails to manufacture taxes, rescue another drowning individual, or appear in court to march on evidence, then these acts (which he calls acts of omission) should be qualified as harmful and may be regulated. exactly if ind ividuals give their consent to take risks without fraud or force, for example, by accepting unsafe employment offered by others, this is not considered as harming them (acts of commission). Page 3 In this case, society is not allowed to intervene drop when individuals sell themselves into slavery (John Stuart Mill). 3. Children cant take care of themselves and may instead harm themselves unintentionally. That is wherefore, Mill explains, they do not cast off sovereignty over themselves, the harm principle cant be applicable in this case and society is allowed to interfere with them against their will.Barbarians fall into this category, too. Mill states that barbarians cant be sovereign over themselves and that despotism over them may be justified in cases when the end result is the improvement of their life. But as soon as they become more(prenominal) civilized and have the capability to decide for themselves, they must be given liberty from the government and its tyranny. Good examples of this, Mill illustrates, are Charlemagne and Akbar the Great who compassionately controlled and helped barbarian nations interrupt manage their lives (John Stuart Mill). 4.According to Mill, human liberty includes several components without which individuals cant be truly free Individuals are free to think as they wish, and to feel as they do (the freedom to opinion and of speech). Mills argues that the freedom of speech is necessary for social progress because allowing people to freely post their opinions and ideas, even if they are false, is useful for two reasons. First, in an open rally of ideas individuals are likely to understand that some of their beliefs may be wrong and will thus abandon them.Second, in the process of debate individuals reaffirm their beliefs and prevent them from turning into mere dogma. Mill believes that it is important for individuals to understand why their beliefs are true (John Stuart Mill). Individuals are free to pursue tastes how ever flagitious they may be considered by others so long as they are not harmful to others (John Stuart Mill). Page 4 Individuals are free to meet with other individuals (the freedom of assembly) (John Stuart Mill). 5.Mill believes that religion should be criticized in the resembling way as are other systems of thought regardless of the crime that such criticism may cause. One of main purposes which governed Mills philosophical endeavours all his life was his commitment to replace Christianity with a religion of Humanity (Carey). 6. Mills liberal ideas made him an advocate of the victimization of efficient local government and associations and he fiercely opposed central control. He argued for the parents obligation to educate their children but disapproved of a central program line system run by the state (John Stuart Mill).In what concerns individual freedoms, it is sooner important to understand that Mill gives the specific justifications for them because he believes the y will conjure up the progress of civilization and will be good for society. Mill does not regard liberty as a standard of value and does not mention any natural rights of individuals in his discussions. Instead he is generally concerned with the utility of rights and freedoms of individuals for the social progress (John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill Political Philosopher).Many critics point out that Mill underestimated the important role of social order and custom as a source of certificate or freedom. His liberalism is also weakened in the eyes of other critics who do not share his extremely optimistic view of human nature. They are particularly pessimistic about his rosy belief that it is humans well-educated engagement in a continuous attempt to achieve person-to-person development that results in the existence of diverse personalities and viewpoints (Reeves).Mill is also ofttimes criticised for justifying the right of one developed nation to exercise despotism over other un derdeveloped nations (or barbarians as he calls them) on the grounds that it brings them the benefits and advantages of higher(prenominal) civilization (John Stuart Mill and Liberal Page 5 Imperialism). Despite criticism, the precious greatness of Mill lies in his readiness and willingness to combine both his thoughts and actions. He was a progressive philosopher who was ready to go to jail for his beliefs.It is not move then that six years after he published his great book On Liberty, he decided to stand for parliament in order to better implement his beliefs. His most known initiatives include the instauration of an amendment to the Reform bill in a fortunate attempt to give women equal voting rights his relentless pursuit of Governor Edward Eyre for having brutally suppressing an ascent in Jamaica his fierce opposition to the suspension of habeas corpus in Ireland his successful campaign against an attempt to prohibit demonstrations or meetings in public parks, and many othe rs (Reeves).By and large, Mills career as a liberal politician could be regarded as a relative failure. His performance was commonly acclaimed, but he often found himself in opposition to the aims and wishes of his electors. He was quite reluctant to compromise with his own principles just to get reenforcement of his electorate, and this resulted in his failure to be re-elected in 1868 (John Stuart Mill Political Philosopher). cc years after his birth, Mills liberalism is still relevant(Source http//www. prospect-magazine. co. uk/article_details. php? id=7439)Mills was certain that On Liberty as well as many others of his philosophical works raised several important problems, such as the tyranny of uniformity in opinion and practice which would be more face up future generations than were by his own and that some critics believed that these problems were exaggerated because they were looking more at contemporary facts than at existing tendencies (Reeves). It may be argued that t he issues that Mill was interested in and consistently dealt with in his time are without a doubt still relevant and important today (Plank).BIBLIOGRAPHY1. Carey, G. W. The Authoritarian Secularism of John Stuart Mill. Retrieved frame in 14, 2008 from the humanity vast blade http//www. nhinet. org/carey15-1. pdf 2. Heydt, C. John Stuart Mill Overview. Retrieved work on 14, 2008 from the creation Wide Web http//www. iep. utm. edu/m/milljs. htm 3. John Stuart Mill. Retrieved March 14, 2008 from the World Wide Web http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill 4. John Stuart Mill and Liberal Imperialism.Retrieved March 14, 2008 from the World Wide Web http//www. antiwar. com/stromberg/s051802. html 5. John Stuart Mill Political Philosopher. Retrieved March 14, 2008 from the World Wide Web http//www. john-mill. com/ 6. Plank, B. John Stuart Mill. Retrieved March 14, 2008 from the World Wide Web http//www. liberal-international. org/editorial. asp? ia_id=685 7. Reeves, R. John Stua rt Mill. Retrieved March 14, 2008 from the World Wide Web http//www. prospect-magazine. co. uk/article_details. php? id=7439