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Single Idea 20516
[filed under theme 25. Social Practice / A. Freedoms / 5. Freedom of lifestyle
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Full Idea
Mill has presented liberty as instrumentally valuable, as a way of achieving the greatest possible happiness in society. But perhaps he should have argued that liberty is an intrinsic good, good in itself.
Gist of Idea
Mill defends freedom as increasing happiness, but maybe it is an intrinsic good
Source
comment on John Stuart Mill (On Liberty [1857]) by Jonathan Wolff - An Introduction to Political Philosophy (Rev) 4 'Intrinsic'
Book Ref
Wolff,Jonathan: 'An Introduction to Political Philosophy (Rev)' [OUP 2006], p.124
A Reaction
If freedom is intrinsically good, does this leave us (as Wolff warned earlier) unable to defend its value? Freedom isn't an intrinsic good for infants, so why should it be so for adults? Good because it brings happiness, or fulfils our nature?
Related Idea
Idea 20513
If natural rights are axiomatic, there is then no way we can defend them [Wolff,J]
The
25 ideas
from 'On Liberty'
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20517
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Utilitarianism values liberty, but guides us on which ones we should have or not have
[Mill, by Wolff,J]
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20516
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Mill defends freedom as increasing happiness, but maybe it is an intrinsic good
[Wolff,J on Mill]
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20515
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Maximise happiness by an area of strict privacy, and an area of utilitarian interventions
[Mill, by Wolff,J]
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7211
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Prevention of harm to others is the only justification for exercising power over people
[Mill]
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7213
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Liberty arises at the point where people can freely and equally discuss things
[Mill]
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7215
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True freedom is pursuing our own good, while not impeding others
[Mill]
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7212
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Individuals have sovereignty over their own bodies and minds
[Mill]
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7214
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Ethics rests on utility, which is the permanent progressive interests of people
[Mill]
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7210
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The will of the people is that of the largest or most active part of the people
[Mill]
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7216
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The ethics of the Gospel has been supplemented by barbarous Old Testament values
[Mill]
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7217
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The main argument for freedom is that interference with it is usually misguided
[Mill]
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7231
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The worth of a State, in the long run, is the worth of the individuals composing it
[Mill]
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7229
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People who transact their own business will also have the initiative to control their government
[Mill]
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7227
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It is evil to give a government any more power than is necessary
[Mill]
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7230
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Aim for the maximum dissemination of power consistent with efficiency
[Mill]
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7228
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Individuals often do things better than governments
[Mill]
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7220
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Restraint for its own sake is an evil
[Mill]
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7222
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It is a crime for someone with a violent disposition to get drunk
[Mill]
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7218
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Individuals are not accountable for actions which only concern themselves
[Mill]
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7221
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Blocking entry to an unsafe bridge does not infringe liberty, since no one wants unsafe bridges
[Mill]
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7223
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Pimping and running a gambling-house are on the border between toleration and restraint
[Mill]
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7219
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Society can punish actions which it believes to be prejudicial to others
[Mill]
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7226
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Benefits performed by individuals, not by government, help also to educate them
[Mill]
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7224
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We need individual opinions and conduct, and State education is a means to prevent that
[Mill]
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7225
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It is a crime to create a being who lacks the ordinary chances of a desirable existence
[Mill]
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