ipl-logo

A Rhetorical Analysis Of On Liberty By John Stuart Mill

590 Words3 Pages

“If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing than one person than he, if he has the power, would be justified in silencing mankind” (Mill, 1859, p.14). In the essay On Liberty by John Stuart Mill, written in 1859. Mill discusses his thoughts on the issue of freedom of speech and expresses his argument throughout the entirety of the essay. His argument states that society should be able to express themselves through speech without the threat of the Government or the tyranny of the majority interrupting the speaker`s liberty. He claims that as long as what an individual is saying does not cause direct harm on others an individual should be able to speak their beliefs freely without any consequences. In addition to his argument on freedom of speech throughout the essay Mill argues about the importance of individuality and how citizens need to learn how to think for themselves and to not conform to the societal …show more content…

Society should treat people with different views and opinions respectfully and the same as how they would treat someone with their own opinion. Only when their speech or actions become harmful should someone step in and the discussion be put to an end. In the TVO episode of The Agenda featuring Mark Steyn and three Osgoode Hall Law School students, Mill would argue that both parties deserved to say what they felt even though the words that the parties were both saying could have hurt the people and groups involved. In the essay On Liberty by John Stuart Mill, Mill argues with great logic the value of freedom of speech, his argument is valid, and in relation to The Agenda episode Mill would argue that Mark Steyn`s discussion and written work is acceptable and should be heard, however to keep Canada a safe country, limitations need to be set on the law of freedom of

Show More
Related
301 Words | 2 Pages

Valley Forge Camp for the Strong People should stay at Valley Forge, because Washington wants to help (Doc B), the death rates were very low (Doc A), and you would be considered a coward for leaving (Doc D). Valley Forge is a winter camp for the continental army during the revolutionary war. Some consider it a to have bad conditions so they would leave, but this is why people should stay. First of all, George Washington tries to help the army by talking to the congressional Committee (Doc B). In the painting of Valley Forge George Washington is talking to the committee and pointing at the army.

Read More
855 Words | 4 Pages

(Doc. D) This statement exemplifies the detraction of the rights of man which allowed citizens to voice and protest their opinion publicly without the fear of being

Read More
831 Words | 4 Pages

Americans have an ideal and a dream for liberty, though they are often reminded by the British parliament that such liberty was out of reach. From time to time, it was not only the British who undermined their precious liberty, but also their fellow colonists. Therefore, the founding fathers of United States wrote an article to convey and reinforce the ideals of American liberty to their fellow people and the British parliament. The declaration of Independence successfully conveyed the concept of liberty because the article appealed to its audiences by using logical and emotions reasoning, represented the ideal understanding of liberty by introducing it to the public, and stood up for the injustices that the British have set upon them by addressing

Read More
194 Words | 1 Pages

The Declaration of a New Found Voice The Declaration of Independence was written in response to Great Britain’s control of the 13 colonies. Jefferson writes to proclaim the colonist’s and his disapproval of Great Britain’s rule. The colonies want to have the basic rights of life without consequences from British rule. The British do not allow the colonists to have undeniable rights.

Read More
145 Words | 1 Pages

In this argument, "A Defense of the Constitution", the author Adam is using appeal to flattery by applying his opinion and trying to convince the the reader to side with him. Appeal to flattery is when an author is using flattery, compliments, and etc. to get the reader to agree with the author or speaker, "The people are the best keepers of their own liberties. " It might backfire on the the writer or the speaker by the reader opposing or disagreeing with the content or opinion of the writer. It weakens a argument by trying to get the reader to choose sides, mostly trying to win the reader with their opinion instead of evidence, "All kinds of experience show, that great numbers of individuals do oppress great numbers of other individuals; that

Read More
1224 Words | 5 Pages

Whether it is at the dinner table or in my family’s group text message, the conversation about my brother’s custody battle with my mother’s side of the family seems to remain a bitter topic, especially when discussing my role in it. When my father physically harmed my brother to the extent to which he had to go to the emergency room, the custody trial over my brother and me began. After several sources provided the judge with accusations against my father, I was the final source that needed to assert or deny my father’s abuse; with heavy consideration, I decided to lie to the judge by denying my father’s abuse. Under the principle of utilitarianism, philosophers would infer that lying is permissible if the consequences of doing so are good.

Read More
271 Words | 2 Pages

1. The author begins his essay with a quotation from the Declaration of Independence because he wants to address to the pursuit of happiness as being dependent to us, not to the nation. This quotation helps the author to expand his argument because he says that citizens need the promise of the declaration of Independence, even though, they have to build their own happiness. This means that human beings need to be reminded what the meaning of life is which is to achieved happiness. 2.

Read More
683 Words | 3 Pages

The Declaration of Independence is one of the most influential documents in American culture. According to Stephen E. Lucas, The Declaration of Independence is sectioned into five main parts: the introduction, the preamble, the indictment of George III, the denunciation of the British, and the conclusion (Lucas). The introduction and the preamble of this document are written in an elevated, formal style to show their significance and importance. The indictment of King George III occurs later in the document as a way to soften the attack on the current government. The criticism of the British also is done later in the document and in a simple, common style using shorter sentences.

Read More
1384 Words | 6 Pages

In the Harm Principle Mill suggests that the actions of individuals should be limited to prevent the harm of others . An individual may do whatever he or she wants, as long as these actions do not harm others. Mill believes in an individual’s autonomy; being self governed. We can live as we wish, and therefor also die as and when we wish. As Mill says: “the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.

Read More
1914 Words | 8 Pages

My topic originated from reading Thomas Carlyle and John Stuart Mill 's debate in December 1849-January 1850. Both writers published anonymously in Fraser ' Magazine, with Carlyle writing a violent critique, ‘Occasional Discourse on the Negro Question’, and Mill sending in an outraged response simply entitled ‘The Negro Question’ that appeared in the following issue. Counteracting Carlyle 's very racist vision of the repartition of work among Black and White Jamaicans with arguments undermining that conception , Mill retorted But I again renounce all advantage from facts: were the whites born ever so superior in intelligence to the blacks, and competent by nature to instruct and advise them, it would not be the less monstrous to assert that

Read More
547 Words | 3 Pages

For humankind and society to advance, it is necessary for the people to have basic human rights. In the book, Fahrenheit 451, citizens in Phoenix are given little to no rights -- one of which are the rights of speech. Those who want to speak up in the city of Phoenix will be hunted down as criminals; compared to our modern society, freedom of speech is what shapes our community and society as a whole. Speech is what improves society, and let’s society thrive on the indifferences of the community. The community in Fahrenheit 451 is full of ignorance and oblivion.

Read More
1128 Words | 5 Pages

Introduction: John Stuart Mill essay on Consideration On representative Government, is an argument for representative government. The ideal form of government in Mill's opinion. One of the more notable ideas Mill is that the business of government representatives is not to make legislation. Instead Mill suggests that representative bodies such as parliaments and senates are best suited to be places of public debate on the various opinions held by the population and to act as watchdogs of the professionals who create and administer laws and policy.

Read More
1104 Words | 5 Pages

I chose to review the fifth chapter of “New Ideas From Dead Economists” titled The Stormy Mind of John Stuart Mill. John Stuart Mill was born in 1806 in London to two strict parents who began to educate their son at a very young age. Mill’s father was James Mill, a famous historian and economist, who began to teach his son Greek at the age of three. The book reports that “by eight, the boy had read Plato, Xenophon, and Diogenes” and by twelve “Mill exhausted well-stocked libraries, reading Aristotle and Aristophanes and mastering calculus and geometry” (Buchholz 93). The vast amount of knowledge that Mill gained at a young age no doubt assisted him in becoming such a well-recognized philosopher and economist.

Read More
1564 Words | 7 Pages

John Stuart Mill, at the very beginning of chapter 2 entitled “what is utilitarianism”. starts off by explaining to the readers what utility is, Utility is defined as pleasure itself, and the absence of pain. This leads us to another name for utility which is the greatest happiness principle. Mill claims that “actions are right in proportions as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.” “By Happiness is intended pleasure and the absence of pain, by happiness, pain and the privation of pleasure”.

Read More
2363 Words | 10 Pages

1.0 INTRODUCTION In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), freedom of speech falls under the Article 19 which is the freedom of opinion and expression. It protects one’s freedom ‘to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers’ (The United Nations, 1948). Article 19(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) adds that the freedom of expression could be ‘either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice’. Besides being an individual’s fundamental liberty of expression, Santa Clara University School of Law Professor Russell W. Galloway (1991) states that free speech is the ‘matrix of all other freedoms’.

Read More

More about A Rhetorical Analysis Of On Liberty By John Stuart Mill

Related Topics

Open Document