Preview

How Does John Stuart Mills Encourage An Individual's Freedom

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
248 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Does John Stuart Mills Encourage An Individual's Freedom
John Stuart Mills believed very strongly in individual liberty and freedom. However I think that it is first important to state that Mills did not believe in unlimited liberty. He thought that this would lead to conflict, and therefore he believed that government was essential. He believed that the role of the government should be to protect citizens from such conflict, yet still allow for individual liberty and progress.

He believed so strongly in individual liberty and freedom because he believed that each individual should have the chance to maximize their potential (even though not all individuals are equally capable). He saw that with an increase of a working class in a society, there was also the possibility of increased conformity

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Mill begins his essay by expressing a concern with the amount of control that society can exert over an individual 's liberty. Mill is afraid of the "the tyranny of the majority"1 and suggests that one should protect himself not only from the tyranny of the state itself, but also from the prevailing opinions of the majority. He says that the opinions of the majority become the rules and laws…

    • 2441 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Due to his high knowledge of the law, he was able to write responses and essays that were very influential to governments. First off, he wrote an opposing response about the Stamp Act, in 1765, stating that taxing colonist without their consent was considered unfair. He didn’t stop…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I agree with him because he believed that humans are born with freedom, and this is true. I also agree with him because he stated that Government deserved to be obeyed only as it followed the common good in its actions.…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Individual freedom was a major part of John Locke’s ideas on government. John Locke said “(W)hen the government is dissolved, the people are at liberty to provide for themselves, by erecting a new legislative…” (Doc.A). What he means by that is that all citizens should provide for themselves. He also said, “ They have not only the right to get out of a [failed…

    • 557 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout history philosophers have introduced new ideas and belief systems into society in hopes to better the world they lived in. Many philosophers have introduced ideas that are still in practice in American government. While popular belief among those trying to pave a path forward was that government, as it stood, was tyrannical and overly restrictive, however John Stuart Mill believed that through government happiness and freedom can be achieved.…

    • 742 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first part of the process towards his individualism was that Equality defied the laws that held him back. Equality started to care more about himself than the laws. This show in this quote “Never, not in the memory of the Ancient Ones’ Ancient, never have men done that which we are doing. And yet there is no shame in us and regret.”, (Rand 37). This shows that even though he broke the law, he does not care because he felt that it helped him. Even though it was wrong he continued to do it because he cared more for his knowledge than the one of his society.…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    John Stuart Mill once said, “The amount of eccentricity in a society has generally been proportional to the amount of genius, mental vigor, and moral courage it contained. That so few now dare to be eccentric marks the chief danger of the time.” John Stuart Mill is one of the most prominent English-speaking philosophers during the 19th century. His works incorporated a huge range of topics in his articles and papers he has written, in which a few of them include A System of Logic, On Liberty, and Utilitarianism. Mill’s main goal when composing On Liberty was best seen by taking a gander at how he talked about his work in his Autobiography. Mill composed that he accepted On Liberty to show the significance to man and to the society, of an extensive variety on sorts of character, and the opportunity given to human instinct to extend itself in…

    • 1470 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Thomas Jefferson the writer of the Declaration of Independence, the Virginia statutes of religious freedom; a noble man, husband, and owner of slaves. These are all things that one could hear about Thomas Jefferson, so one wouldn’t be surprised to know that he had his own thoughts about the meanings of liberty.…

    • 303 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pleasures and pain contribute in determining the classification of one’s actions. In Mill’s Utilitarianism, he examines what determines an action to be considered right or wrong, his own version of the hedonistic utilitarianism argument. He claims that these qualities, including the quantity, are an important factor in determining, when included in the consequences, the criteria of an action. The consequences are significant in determining the results of one’s actions.…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    According to Mill “The only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good…

    • 373 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Mill’s essay shows how much he valued all people of society and his view that all people deserve equal freedom and rights. Women giving the chance to have equality would not relinquish their roles as wives and mothers besides a select few, but they would have the freedom to choose their lives and more of a sense of control over their own destinies. He believed that to have a happy and functional society there must be equality for all. He was an advocate for all who were oppressed in life.…

    • 1258 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    This results in Mill’s claim that a Government’s sole responsibility is to represent the interests of its people: “Those interests, I contend, authorize the subjection of individual spontaneity to external control only in respect to those actions of each which concern the interest of other people” (On Liberty 139). He claims that there are certain situations where it is better to have legal remedies than condemning people morally. In these instances he believes Government to be beneficial to society as it promotes the higher good of freedom. Furthermore, he asserts that laws should be made to protect people from engaging in actions that have been tried since the beginning of time and have proven to be harmful (On Liberty 141).…

    • 1207 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the essay Utilitarianism written by John Stuart Mill, Mill presents the claim that happiness is the only thing that is good. Meaning that all happiness leads to pleasure through out our lives and can be noticed by the absence of pain. In this essay I will further explain Mill’s view on happiness and how it is connected to the Utilitarianism view. I will then define my own objection of Mill’s arguments and why it is a compelling objection to think about.…

    • 922 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism, Mill discusses the concept of utilitarianism, defined as, “The doctrine that actions are right if they are useful of for the benefit of a majority.” Mill elaborates on this idea and within the second chapter of his essay, addresses many misconceptions towards this view. Addressing the given quote, one misconception made is that utilitarianism degrades the meaning of life. Some people oppose this view because they think that it is wrong to say that there is no better end than pleasure and freedom from pain. Mill replies to this by saying that there are different qualities of pleasure. He professes about a higher quality pleasure being one which you would choose above another pleasure even if it meant pain…

    • 249 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Liberty And Equality

    • 789 Words
    • 4 Pages

    From the beginning of the relationship it is already understood that we have freedom as humans, so long as our actions do not harm the other person involved in the relationship, this is implied in Equality and generally accepted as a concept by parties involved. Nowhere is the concept of equality more radical than in the ideas of Marx and his Communist Manifesto, decrying the bourgeoisie for its unremorseful control and force of their liberty on the ever growing proletariat. The person who stood me up is the “bourgeoisie, [and] therefore, produces, above all…its own grave-diggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable”. Assuming this person continuously repeats this cycle of standing up their dates a group of people will form, decrying the unethical treatment of human beings. Equality eventually demands itself to be heard in these types of situations, whether it be personal relationships or struggles between economic classes. Communism lends the idea that the “liberal society of representative democracy combined with free market capitalism represents oppression rather than freedom for the vast majority of those living under it”. The key component here being the liberty with which the Bourgeoisie set up these systems of unregulated trade using the proletariat as pawns for their liberal ideals, but inequity grows here and is ignored to a point where the date analogy will repeat itself, revolution begins and equality is demanded. A strong central government that people discard complete liberty to in the name of complete equality sounds too idealistic, and downright utopian, but the verisimilitude of that is not what is important. The importance lays in the attempt of equality. Even Hobbes, cynical as he was, believed “from this equality of ability ariseth equality of hope in the attaining of our ends”. Equality promises that…

    • 789 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays