POLI 2051 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Sophocles
Document Summary
The story and themes of oedipus: freedom. Oedipus as homeless spirit: hubris, heroic, defies the gods/fate. Responsibility: pollution, consequences, freedom = recognition of necessity. Sophocles & oedipus: strive for excellence in a world of constraint, rebel against and accept the limitations of the gods/fate, bravely accept the consequences for one"s actions, reverence & humility. Freedom & natural rights and freedom & utility. John stuart mill & on liberty and the domain of consciousness: liberty of conscience, freedom of thought and feeling, freedom of opinion and sentiment, freedom of expression, freedom of tastes and pursuits, freedom to unite. Freedom has utility: for pursuit of truth, for pursuit of individuality, for development of progressive societies. Freedom and individual: need freedom for observation, need freedom of reason and judgment, freedom to gather information, freedom to discriminate, to decide, freedom and courage to hold firm to our tastes. Freedom and society: necessary for innovation, necessary to sustain truths and tradition, necessary to avoid mediocrity.
