POLI 231 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: On Liberty, John Stuart Mill, Harm Principle
17 May 2018
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Lecture 11 – 13 February 2018
Mill: On Liberty
• Mill fell in love with Hariett Taylor, a married woman. They had a relationship with her
husband’s consent, so long as they didn’t do anything to make a fool out of him. When
the husband died, Mill married her
• Mill went into politics
• Became an MP
• Supported women’s right to vote
Problem with liberty:
• For Locke, the problem was tyranny. A legitimate government required the consent of the
people
• By Mill’s time, the problem of requiring protection from the monarch was pretty well
settled → his problem is not an absolute tyrannical power
• Mill’s problem with liberty is the oppression of minorities
- If the majority wants to pass something, minorities’ decisions are made for them,
sometimes against their interests
- For Mill, political liberty is not freedom for individuals
- The will of the people refers to the will of the many
- While considered “rule by the people,” the people are not a homogenous unit
- Internal divisions: some people might want to oppress others → this is a tyranny of
the majority
- Mill is interested in social tyranny, which he sees as more formidable than political
tyranny. Social tyranny is a deeper oppression that is isolating and enslaving because
of the public opinion and power of the majority
For Mill, individuals are centers of consciousness
• They have agency
• Mill is a believer in individuality
• Believes social tyranny fetters development of individuals
• How do we secure individual independence so that people can flourish in their own way?
- Links to Mill’s upbringing
- Growing concern that the majority laboring class might oppress the upper class
• P61: Society barely has the better of individuality → with the development of the modern
world, society is strengthened and individuals are diminished → we need principles
- Mill sees principle of liberty as having a historical context
- How have we balanced this so far? Mostly, society (England, 19th century) just uses
prevailing opinion and is not reflecting or reasoning. This is not a principle way to
determine the balance. Principle: sometimes social control is warranted, but we will
see limits on individual liberty
Chapter 1: List of liberties (domains/ realms)
1. Consciousness:
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Mill: on liberty: mill fell in love with hariett taylor, a married woman. They had a relationship with her husband"s consent, so long as they didn"t do anything to make a fool out of him. When the husband died, mill married her: mill went into politics, became an mp, supported women"s right to vote. Problem with liberty: for locke, the problem was tyranny. If the majority wants to pass something, minorities" decisions are made for them, sometimes against their interests. For mill, political liberty is not freedom for individuals. The will of the people refers to the will of the many. While considered rule by the people, the people are not a homogenous unit. Internal divisions: some people might want to oppress others this is a tyranny of the majority. Mill is interested in social tyranny, which he sees as more formidable than political tyranny.
