John Stuart Mill Flashcards
1
Q
John Stuart Mill
A
- Was raised to be a super genius
- Was a feminist
- Marries Harriet (Hardy) Mill
2
Q
On Liberty 1859
A
- What it means to have liberty
- How to qualify and understand harm and infringing liberty
3
Q
3 Modes of Freedom
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- Freedom of conscience
- Freedom of taste and pursuit
- Freedom of association
4
Q
Freedom to Publish
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- Say what we are thinking in writing
- Freedom of press and conscience are inseparable
5
Q
Harm Principle
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- Law can infringe liberty to protect others
- Harm is not just being offended
- If your actions incite violence it is harm
6
Q
Harm Principle Exceptions
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- Children
- Can harm those who require force to operate lawfully
7
Q
Despotism and Harm
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- Is fine over the unenlightened
- As long as improvement is the final goal
8
Q
Societal Differences
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- Shares Jefferson’s idea that they exist
- Disagrees that certain people are different
9
Q
India and Differences
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- All will progress but some just need to be treated as kids to start
- Measures other societies by development
10
Q
Individuals and Harm
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- Cause it by inaction
- We have an obligation to act if we see harm
11
Q
Intolerable Ideas
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- We are defined by context in which we find ourselves
- Look back on intolerable ideas
- Have to imagine furture will see our ideas as intolerable
12
Q
Different Opinions
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- Must be encouraged
- Progress means always changing truths
13
Q
Benefits of Disagreement
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- Conflict challenges us to think about prejudices
- 1% can push majority, challengers on the fringe of convention
- Sway opinions within civil society
14
Q
Individuality
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- Individual must be able to express it
- Only stopped if it poses direct harm
- Human because we can deviate from norms
15
Q
Society as a Threat to Individuals
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- Tyranny of the majority can stifle progress
- Just because someone is out of line, does not mean shaming them out of the public sphere
- Worried publishers won’t put out dissenting opinions
16
Q
Individual and Slavery
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- Principle of freedom means we can’t give it up
17
Q
Government and Best Interst
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- Can’t madate that we act in best intersts
- Can only impose policies to prevent harm
18
Q
Private Sphere
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- Indivudals exercise own judgement
- Private sphere does better job of incentivizing policy shifts
19
Q
Government and Help
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- Even if they know they could help, it’s better to let individuals to chose action
- E.g. Jury duty
20
Q
Canadian Context
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- Charter 52 allows fundamental freedoms
- Freedom of Speech is included
21
Q
Publishing vs. Action
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- Publishing just stimulates thought
- Everyone forms their own opinion and actions
22
Q
Jeremy Bentham
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- Father of utilitarianism
- Belieed punishment is good and surveillance is good for punishment
- Designed the panopticon
23
Q
Utilitarianism (Bentham)
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- Actions are right if they create the greatest happiness for the most people
- Happines is pleasure and the absence of pain
- Society for collective wellbeing, other sentient beings included
24
Q
Hedonic Calculus
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- 7 points
- Leads to welfarism
25
Q
Welfarism
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- Jeremy Bentham
- Welfare state to maximize benefit of the most
26
Q
Hedonic Calculus Criticisms
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- No talk of rights or justice
- Burdens the individual
27
Q
Mill’s Central Argument
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- Utility is a societal principle
28
Q
Higher Pleasures
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- Not all pleasures are equal
- Some are higher, such as intellectual pleasures
29
Q
Humans Different From Animals
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- Capacity for reason and progress separate us
- We can also cultivate an understanding of morality
30
Q
Dignity
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- Specific to humans
- No one would choose an undignified life
- High sense of dignity means high faculties
31
Q
Critical Thought
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- Free speech allows challenging bad ideas
- Need it for intellectual pleasures
32
Q
Individual and Collective
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- Individual is connected to collective good
- Free speech in view of partnership
33
Q
Utilitarianism and Individuality
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- Individual allows collective progress
- Sacrifice is consistent with utility
34
Q
Sacrifice
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- Happiness is not an individual pleasure
- Individual flourishing for collective means sacrificing self to elevate others sometimes
35
Q
Sanction
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- Mill says why not take me seriously
- Utility means morality = conscience
36
Q
Justice
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- Essential to happiness
1. Just to respect legal rights
2. Legally right v. morally right
3. Involves desert notion
4. Unjust to break faith and obligations
5. Unjust to be partial
6. Justice involves sense of equality
37
Q
Legally vs. Morally Right
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- Moral obligation to humans that supercedes unjust laws
- If gap, go with morals
38
Q
Justice and Desert Notion
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- Punishment and reward, entitled to vengeance
- Most powerful form of justice
39
Q
Unjust to be Partial
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- Can’t rule according to own interests
- Can’t benefit friends because they are friends
- Especially when you are a judge
40
Q
Justice and Equality
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- Equal moral worth under law
- Those who count as equal changes over time
41
Q
Commonality
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- All have a common sense of personal right
- Justice is greatest commonality
42
Q
Critiques of Mill
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- Problem of measuring happiness
- Problem of rights and justice
43
Q
Problem of Measuring Happiness
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- How do you determine what intellectual pleasures are worth pursuing
- Depends on what the end of society means to you
44
Q
Problem of Right and Justice
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- Individuals can choose to sacrifice rights, can groups be sacrificed?
- Have to be able to do revolutions (Mill)
- Happiness beyond temporal moment, how far in the furture though?
