For example, the majority in a society may want to kill someone, however, if in that society, a person has a right to live as written in that society 's supreme law, they are protected from that majority will.
Nonetheless, if the government fails to protect our property or rights, we can rebel against him and remove him from his place. Locke’s law creates a government, that can run the society peacefully, and the law of the society is based on practical reasons. Locke thinks the majority rules is the best system of government. Locke has a positive view of ‘human nature’. He thinks men are good, and they are born with natural rights.
Mill argues that each individual can exert his freedom so long as it does not harm anyone else (Mill 1863). What a person does in his life is his business, and I can express disdain or aversion to his actions. If neither of us infringe on one another’s liberty, we cannot act in a way that would limit or remove each other’s liberty (Mill 1863). Contrarily, for self-defense, society and/or the victimized individual can impede on the perpetrator’s liberty if the perpetrator has impinged on someone else’s right to liberty (Mill 1863). Harm to someone’s liberty, whether done actively or inactively, therefore should be legally condemnable (Mill 1863).
Societal control is apparent in the past, the present, and inevitably in the future, through the laws, regulatory enforcement, and social groups that exist within our world. In some cases societal control is necessary to live a peaceful life, but sometimes societal control can go to the extremes and cause trouble. In our community we get controlled
John Locke discusses within in his book, “Second Treatise of Government,” the concepts of natural rights of individuals as well as the legitimate exercise of political power. Within his writing, Locke links his beliefs to a theory of personal property. This joining of ideas helps Locke make an argument against mainly unjust governments. In addition to his argument, Locke aims to explain how he believes that people have the right to rebel against their own government. In fact, he promotes people to rebel against their own government because everyone should have a government that they trust.
A Better Tomorrow The comparison presented by the speaker shows the conflicting ideologies of a dictatorship and a democracy. Although the majority of countries today have opted for a more moderate welfare state, there are still a few elitist countries with a dangerous amount of power out there. According to the source, these countries are lead by paranoid and corrupted leaders; as a result their country is at a standstill with no economic or political development. The speaker suggests steering away from such a standstill and to reach full potential society needs to protect the rights of everyone ensuring equality. The speaker’s perspective aligns with the ideas of John Stuart Mill, who strongly believed in individual liberty where one can
John Locke discusses within in his book, “Second Treatise of Government,” the concepts of natural rights of individuals as well as the legitimate exercise of political power. Within his writing, Locke links his abstract beliefs to a theory of personal property wholly protected from governmental invention. This joining of ideas helps Locke make an argument against absolutism and unjust governments. In addition to his argument, Locke aims to explain how he believes that people have the right to rebel against their own government. In fact, he promotes people to rebel against their own government because everyone should have a government that they trust.
In Mill’s ideal government, there each individual is allowed to do anything they wish as long it does not directly harm another citizen or violate their rights (On Liberty, 55). In order for the members of society to have a maximum potential of freedom, the only restrictions set by the government are those that keep individuals from mistreating or harming one another. John Stuart Mill advocates for the freedom of thought because allowing diversity of opinion can help discover new truths that may benefit society. The suppression of ideas puts society at great risk for silencing potential truths (On Liberty, 19). He argues that there have been truths that were persecuted as false views in the past that are now considered true views because “truth always triumphs over persecution(On Liberty 29).”
Mill identified the above thinking that talks about the power of the nation as the power of the people with political liberalism that emerged in Europe (Mill, 3). This form of State that emerged in Europe gradually occupied the entire earth. This sort of government, although theoretically based on the consent of everyone, is in reality, according to Mill based on the will of the majority or, as Mill says, those who have succeeded in making themselves the majority and who wield political, economic, and social power over the rest. Thus, the turn to governments based on people’s “consent” did not necessarily make modern societies more democratic, for power still remained in the hand of those who influence the decision making that affects millions of people. Mill says, “The will of the people, moreover, practically means, the will of the most numerous or the most active part of the people, the majority, or those who succeed in making themselves accepted as the majority…..
Liberty here is actually defined by the majority, as it is not practical to expect total consensus (Locke 161). In Locke’s commonwealth, if consent is given for the majority to legislate, so long as the legislature has “the consent of the majority” (Locke 163), nothing the legislature does could be considered as an unjust limitation of liberty. When examining his concept of liberty in general, it is perhaps more accurate to divide the concept as humans having different liberties, for which the
In many countries, people follow the government rules restrictively, not sharing their ideas of the ideal society. On the other hand, in countries where people do not follow the government rules, people go to the street, making protests to promote their thinking of the ideal society, resulting in a big impact on their lives, which is very fascinating. After some research and doing reading responses about Mill and Emerson’s works, I got very interest about the subject, knowing that I can actually apply their concepts in my life. Both philosophers share the same concept of individual freedom and the importance of a critical thinking, rather than follow other’s people ideas. In my research, I would like to explore its importance on the actual society and how people can change their lives through the liberty.
In his book On Liberty, John Stuart Mill provides an ideology that justifies the interference of one’s civil liberties which then became known as the “Harm Principle.” In short, it implies that a person may do whatever he/she pleases as long as that action causes no harm to anyone else, and if it does, his/her civil liberties can be interfered with to prevent harm. One of the harm principle’s biggest appeals is that it ensures one’s individual choices that affect no one else, must be respected. One of the harm principle’s drawbacks is that it only interferes with civil liberties when you or other people are at risk of being harmed against their will. For example, smoking and the pleasure that person finds from smoking is usually a personal
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.
Another distinct conception of rights by Mill is, ‘rights as protection of preeminent goods’. Best conception reposes on his assumption about happiness and the role of individual rights to basic interests and liberties in securing happiness. Mill thinks that an account of human happiness should be reflective of the kinds of being that they are or what is valuable about human nature. According to this conception the rights to basic interests and liberties are necessary conditions to the exercise of deliberative capacities, which are preeminent or incomparable requirement in human happiness.
Being Free 1st draft Freedom is word used in a lot of contexts, but the official meaning of the word is “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants” (Freedom). Meaning that you have the right to do something, with the focus being on you as an individual. This means no one can tell you what to do, like for example a state. This is an important aspect and part of political theory. Liberty is also used and viewed as the same category of theory, and has the definition “The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s behavior or political views” (Liberty).
