Week #5: Liberty

Question 1

Mill: Four Stages of liberty:

Answer 1

• History of relations between individuals and authority
• First stage: Contest between subjects and the government. Liberty means protection of society against the tyranny of political rulers

Question 2

Mill:

Answer 2

Second stage: Development of democratic government. Liberty means popular self rule. Rulers ARE the ruled, so (it was thought) there is no need to limit government power

• Third stage: Recognition that the political majority can be tyrannical over the minority. Liberty is democratic government with protection for minorities
• Fourth stage:Threat of social tyranny: the tyranny of prevailing opinion and feeling. Oppressive, soul-enslaving customs and prejudices

Question 3

Mill: The Liberty Principle

Answer 3

• individuals should be free to do whatever, as long as you’re not harming someone else\
• But liberty is valuable only for civilized societies, capable of moral progress

Question 4

Mill: Liberty Principle vs. Paternalism

Answer 4

• Paternalism: coercing people to change their behavior FOR THEIR OWN GOOD. Paternalists want to protect individuals from themselves

Question 5

Mill: censorship

Answer 5

• Mill defends complete freedom thought and discussion
• It is never justifiable to silence an opinion, whether it is true or false but it is legitimate to restrict its expression if it its likely to directly instigate harm to others

Question 6

Mill: What does Mill mean by “harm”?

Answer 6

• Distinction between offensive actions and actions that cause harm
• To harm someone is to damage their ‘interests’

Question 7

Mill: Liberty

Answer 7

• “the nature and limits of the power which can be legitimately exercised by society over the individual.”

Question 8

Mill: limiting liberty

Answer 8

• Limit individual freedom in a particular way:

- When the action in question harms interests that ought to be considered as rights

Question 9

Why do we have rights? 3 answers:

Answer 9

1. Self-evident: just think about it and you will agree, no further argument needed. Not self evident to everyone, for ex. People who think seeing is believing
2. Custom and convention: too conservative, doesn’t give sound basis
3. Recognizing them maximizes utility

Question 10

Mill: Indirect Utilitarianism and happiness

Answer 10

• Choose the system of rights that maximize utility or happiness
• Can justify a set of rights to liberty, security, and property

Question 11

J.F.Stephen: Liberty

Answer 11

Liberty is like fire – the value depends on the use

Question 12

Mill: Progress and humanity

Answer 12

• Human Beings are capable of progress: they can benefit from experience
• individuals generally know best what will make them happy
• Making choices exercises our distinctively human capacities

Question 13

Mill: Why is liberty valuable?

Answer 13

• liberty is necessary for individual self realization

* To be the best person you can be, the necessary condition is freedom of action

Question 14

Mill: public indecency

Answer 14

• These acts may be restricted because they are offences against decency

Question 15

Communitarianism

Answer 15

• Liberals wrongly think we can detach ourselves from current social practices
• Moral thinking isn’t deciding yourself how to live, but to figure it out in a community, we can not detach ourselves from our communities