What Are The Arguments Against Mill's Liberty Principle
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Argument against Mill’s Liberty Principle
Mill’s principle of liberty is based on the concept of individualism. According to him, liberty should ensure the promotion of individualism. The main reason is the connection of individualism to man’s utilitarian nature that constantly seeks both social and personal progression. The dual utilitarian argument by Mill is therefore based on the value of choices and each person’s pursuit of happiness. This led to the development of his ‘harm principle’ that implied that exercising of personal liberties is only limited when the interests of an individual have been injured. However, the principle of liberty championed by Mill is not practically feasible.
The basis of Mill’s principle …show more content…
As such, there has to be a set of customs or norms that determine the actions of behavior within the society and outline the scope of harm that is acceptable. This presents one of the first problems with Mills liberty principles, the fact that it is not applicable to everybody. The first groups that cannot fit into this argument are children, they do not know the proper definition of harm and any harmful action by them can simply be regarded as an accident. Additionally, there are some communities whereby barbaric behavior is the norm. It would, therefore, be wrong to apply the same aspect of harm in these societies and to people living in urban cities. As such, the principle of harm has a wide scope and cannot be efficiently applied to the entire …show more content…
An example is in relation to the police. When there is no maintenance of law and order in the society, there is an uptick in the crime level, and this has a harmful effect on the rest of the population. The same approach is also applicable to individuals, and when one does not perform certain basic tasks, it has a negative impact on other people, resulting in interference with their personal liberties. Considering that there are millions of things that can cause potential harm to others, Mills principle is vague and cannot be applicable in most circumstances. In some cases, an individual may engage in activities that cause harm to them, if these acts are copied by another individual and they are also harmed, there is a question of whether the first party will be blamed for this form of harm. This further shows the numerous loopholes that exist in the application of harms
Course
Tutor
Date
Argument against Mill’s Liberty Principle
Mill’s principle of liberty is based on the concept of individualism. According to him, liberty should ensure the promotion of individualism. The main reason is the connection of individualism to man’s utilitarian nature that constantly seeks both social and personal progression. The dual utilitarian argument by Mill is therefore based on the value of choices and each person’s pursuit of happiness. This led to the development of his ‘harm principle’ that implied that exercising of personal liberties is only limited when the interests of an individual have been injured. However, the principle of liberty championed by Mill is not practically feasible.
The basis of Mill’s principle …show more content…
As such, there has to be a set of customs or norms that determine the actions of behavior within the society and outline the scope of harm that is acceptable. This presents one of the first problems with Mills liberty principles, the fact that it is not applicable to everybody. The first groups that cannot fit into this argument are children, they do not know the proper definition of harm and any harmful action by them can simply be regarded as an accident. Additionally, there are some communities whereby barbaric behavior is the norm. It would, therefore, be wrong to apply the same aspect of harm in these societies and to people living in urban cities. As such, the principle of harm has a wide scope and cannot be efficiently applied to the entire …show more content…
An example is in relation to the police. When there is no maintenance of law and order in the society, there is an uptick in the crime level, and this has a harmful effect on the rest of the population. The same approach is also applicable to individuals, and when one does not perform certain basic tasks, it has a negative impact on other people, resulting in interference with their personal liberties. Considering that there are millions of things that can cause potential harm to others, Mills principle is vague and cannot be applicable in most circumstances. In some cases, an individual may engage in activities that cause harm to them, if these acts are copied by another individual and they are also harmed, there is a question of whether the first party will be blamed for this form of harm. This further shows the numerous loopholes that exist in the application of harms