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John Mill Conformity

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John Mill Conformity
‘Tyranny of the majority’ is a concept that the liberty of the people is restricted because of the socially expected conformation to customs, beliefs and opinions, and attitudes that are accepted by the majority as the right way of thinking (Morasch, 2016). Resistance to the conformity results in renowned shame and exclusion from the majority people, making the revolter an outcast. John Mill was a strong proponent of individualism, stressed the importance of an eccentric life and believed that unique people are necessary for prosperity. “Human nature is not a machine to be built as a model, and set to do exactly the work prescribed for it, but a tree, which requires growth and development” (On Liberty, 105). Mill describes in On Liberty that …show more content…
In On Liberty, Chapter 2: Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion, Mill elaborates on free speech by saying “If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind” (On Liberty, 515). Meaning that if a person revolting against the conformity was to have a differing opinion than that of the conforming majority, it would be as unjust to silence that singular person as it would be to silence the entire majority. The majority may share a popular opinion, yet that does not ensure that it is right. If there is no other opinion to be regarded then the truth may never be discovered and the ‘tyranny of the majority’ will result in an overwhelming ignorance and a failure to form new ideas. Free speech must be preserved because without radical ideas the original theory will remain valid, but result in stymied progress of human nature. For example, Galileo, a now renowned scientist, was very unpopular and jailed for his opinions and discoveries because they did not conform with the ideas of the church. Without his discoveries and resilience against the majority, we would lack the knowledge about the universe and laws of
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