Key Thinkers - John Stuart Mill

Question 1

Who was Mill

Answer 1

-born 1806 died 1873
-son of utilitarian philosopher James Mill
-a politician + campaigner who developed ideas of Locke + Wollstonecraft providing valuable bridge between classical liberalism + modern liberalism
-said his ideas represent ‘transitional liberalism’ or ‘developmental liberalism’

Question 2

What is utilitarianism

Answer 2

-put forward a highly influential theory of human nature
-regarding idea of rights as ‘nonsense’ + called natural rights ‘nonsense on stilts’ instead proposing view individuals are motivated by self-interests
-these self-interests can be described as desires for pleasure, happiness or to avoid pain

Question 3

How did utilitarianism impact classical liberalism

Answer 3

-provided moral philosophy explaining how + why individuals act the way they do
-liberal thinkers adopted the view of human beings rationally self-interested creatures

Question 4

What is Mill’s harm principle

Answer 4

-notion an individuals actions should always be tolerated by either the state or other individuals unless these actions would bring harm to others

Question 5

What did this harm principle produce

Answer 5

-‘negative freedom’ - being ‘free from’
-arguing freedom involved the absent of restraint

Question 6

How did Mill clarify tolerance

Answer 6

-dividing human actions into ‘self-regarding’ and ‘other-regarding’

Question 7

What are self-regarding human actions

Answer 7

-religious worship
-robust expression of personal views
-didn’t infringe on the freedom of others in society + should be tolerated

Question 8

What are other-regarding human actions

Answer 8

-violent or riotous behaviour
-‘harm’ the freedom of others in society + should not be tolerated by a liberal state

Question 9

How did Mill view human nature

Answer 9

-he saw liberty not as a ‘natural right’ + an end to itself but as the engine of ongoing human development
-Mill’s human nature was never the finished article as always room for improvement

Question 10

How did Mill regard individualism

Answer 10

-didn’t just want to liberate individuals as they were but pondered what they could become
-referred to developmental individualism

Question 11

How did Mill view democracy

Answer 11

-concerned the timeless liberal principle of ‘gov by consent’ like be compromised if the wishes of some individuals were overwhelmed by wishes of most individual citizens
-feared a democratic state had potential create a ‘tyranny of majority’