Reading Notes by Christopher Lay
Los Angeles Pierce College
Department of History, Philosophy, and Sociology
Mill's On Liberty
http://www.bartleby.com/130/
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Mill's Moral Perspective |
Mill's
approach to the law stems from his moral considerations, namely his brand of
utilitarianism. "I regard
utility as the ultimate appeal on all ethical questions; but it must be
utility in the largest sense, grounded on the permanent interests of man as a
progressive being." Utilitarianism
and liberal rights? |
In a very
flat-footed sense, utility "in the largest sense" seems as though
it could permit the promotion of the subjection of a few individuals in favor
of the greater group, but liberalism, in equally a flat-footed sense, is the
protection of the individual against such subjection. |
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The Harm Principle |
From a moral
perspective, Mill argues that the only permissible way for a government to
limit a citizen's behavior is when that behavior harms or would harm
others: "That
principle, that the sole end for which mankind is warranted, individually or
collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their
number, is self-protection. That
the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member
of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to
others." |
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Mill's Liberalism |
This amounts
to one of the founding statements of Mill's form of liberalism, where the
individual has a certain priority over the community. "In the
part which merely concerns himself, his independence is, of right, absolute. Over himself, over his own body and
mind, the individual is sovereign."
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Liberty's Region |
Mill lists out
the domain of liberty prescribed by the Principle of Harm: 1) the private
life of consciousness, 2) "the
liberty of thought and feeling," 3) the
absolute freedom to hold opinions, have sentiments "on all
subjects," 4) "the
liberty of expressing and publishing opinions, 5) "the
liberty of tastes and pursuits; of framing the plan of our life to suit our
own character," 6) the liberty
of "doing what we like," and 7) the liberty
to assemble freely. All of those
liberties are granted, and constrained, by the Principle of
Harm: those liberties can be
pursued by us "so long as what we do does not harm [others], even though
they should think our conduct foolish, perverse, or wrong." |
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Liberty's Region / Opinion |
Before moving
on, let's do as Mill does, and spend a minute looking at the liberty of
opinion in a little closer detail.
Quite rightly,
I think, Mill argues that the "mental well-being of mankind"
demands a liberty of opinion. Beyond
opinion's fit in the Principle of Harm there are other reasons why opinion
ought not be thwarted by society:
a) it would
take an infallible opinion to silence another, but the assumption of
infallible opinion is highly suspect, b) it is only
through the clash of opinions that good opinions can be tempered by bad
opinions, for even bad opinions can bear "a portion of truth," and c) opinions
which are entirely wrong can prevent the dogmatic assumption of true
opinions, and d) opinions
not challenged by other opinions lose their meanings. |
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What Freedom Means to Mill |
Any society
that respects those liberties is free:
"The only
freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own
way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede
their efforts to obtain it."
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Exceptions |
There is one
significant exception to that absolute right of self-sovereignty conferred on
citizens by the Principle of Harm:
"Those who are still in a state to require being taken care of by
others must be protected against their own actions as well as against
external injury." At least three
types of people, Mill argues, require that protection: a) children, b) certain
kinds of the elderly, and c) races that
of "considered as in [their] nonage." |
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Whence Exceptions |
Those three
groups lack "the capacity of being guided to their own improvement by
conviction or persuasion," and as a result members
of those groups can be compelled "as a means to their own
good." Should the
members of those groups become capable of guiding their own improvements,
they then gain the right of self-sovereignty. Before they
gain those capacities, however, they are rightfully constrained and cannot be
said to be living in freedom. |
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Others' Direct Interests |
Exceptions
aside, the harm principle implies a fair amount of societal intervention and
compulsion, in order to preserve individuals rights
of self-sovereignty. Thus, the
self-sovereign interests of the multitude of men "in the largest
sense," permit the suppression of behaviors that might harm others, and
the compulsion of behaviors where those behaviors are needed to prevent the
harm of others. Negatively,
"If any one does an act harmful to others, there is a prima facie case for punishing
him," by law or by general "disapprobation." Positively, a
citizen "may rightfully be made responsible to society for not
doing" things that are "obviously a man's duty to do,"
including a) "to bear his
fair share in the common defense, b) "to give
evidence in a court of justice, or c) "[to bear is
fair share] in any other joint work necessary to the interests of the society
... " |
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Whence the Obligation to Obey the Laws Regarding Direct Interests |
These direct
interests that the state has in intervening upon, and compelling, any
individual's actions gives rise to an obligation had to, a)
(negatively) "not injuring the interests of one another," and b)
(positively) to bear "his share ... of the labors and sacrifices
incurred for defending the society or its members from injury and
molestation." Why? you
ask? Whence this obligation to
obey the laws which dictate a) and b)?
"Though
society is not founded on a contract, and though no good purpose is answered
by inventing a contract in order to deduce social obligations from it, every
on who receives the protection of society owes a return for the benefit, and
the fact of living in society renders it indispensable that each should be
bound to observe a certain line of conduct towards the rest." |
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The Law's Limits |
But, Mill
concedes, there are forms of harm that ought not be covered by either of
those negative or positive laws.
They amount to offenses, but not to real harm: "The acts
of an individual may be hurtful to others, or wanting in due consideration
for their welfare, without going the length of violating any of their
constituted rights." "The
offender may then be justly punished by opinion, though not by
law." The acts of
such an individual may permit us to offer our help: "Considerations
to aid his judgment, exhortations to strengthen his will, may be offered to
him, even obtruded on him, by others; but," Mill argues, "he,
himself is the final judge. All
errors which he is likely to commit against advice and warning are far
outweighed by the evil of allowing others to constrain him to what they deem
his good." It is better
to allow the likes of Sheppard and Whittle their hurtful, odious opinions
than it is to constrain them, given the rights prescribed by the Principle of
Harm? Is there no
limit to what opinions a state can permit? Is it merely up to the citizenry to
attempt to educate and ridicule them?
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Other's Indirect Interests |
Mill does
admit that opinions can warrant a kind of social punishment, though not a
legal one. Social
punishment is warranted because of society's indirect interest in what goes
on in the mind and house of the individual when those occurrences can lead to
harm in others. Society thus
has indirect interests in whether or not an individual has moral vices
ranging from "irascibility on insufficient cause" to "the
pride which derives gratification form the abasement of others."
"There is
a degree of folly, and a degree of what may be called ... lowness or
depravation of taste, which, though it cannot justify doing [legal] harm to
the person who manifests it, renders him necessarily and properly a subject
of distaste, or, in extreme cases, even of contempt ... . Though doing no [legal] wrong to
anyone, a person may so act as to compel us to judge him, and feel to him, as
a fool, or as a being of an inferior order ... ." Too weak? |
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Social Punishment |
Mill argues
that this notion of social punishment can be severe: the
contemptibly depraved "may suffer very severe penalties at the hands of
others," like being passed over for promotion, being boycotted, being
shunned in the streets, etc. |
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Exceptions |
"A
person who shows rashness, obstinacy, self-conceitÑwho cannot live within
moderate meansÑwho cannot restrain himself from hurtful indulgencesÑwho
pursues animal pleasures at the expense of those of feeling and
intellectÑmust expect to be lowered in the opinion of others, and to have a
less share of their favourable sentiments; but of
this he has no right to complain, unless he has merited their favour by special excellence in his social relations, and
has thus established a title to their good offices, which is not affected by
his demerits towards himself." |
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