Political thought of JS Mill, Lecture notes of Political Science

Download Political thought of JS Mill and more Lecture notes Political Science in PDF only on Docsity! NET - JS Mill 1. Key texts - Elements of Political Economy (1820), System of Logic (1843), On Liberty (1859), Considerations on Representative Government (Utilitarianism (1863). Equal freedom for women 1. In 'The Subjection of Women', Mill advocated the liberty of women as well the liberty of the working class. He says that the principle which regulates the existing social relations between the two sexes— the legal subordination of one sex to the other—is wrong in itself, and now one of the chief hindrances to human improvement; and…it ought to b e replaced by a principle of perfect equality, admitting no power or privilege on the one side, not disability on the other'. 2. He was against the marriage laws of the day; By these laws, married Englishwomen could hold no property in their own name, and even if their parents gifted them any property, that too, belonged to their husbands. Unle ss a woman was legally separated from her husband, even if she lived away from him, her earnings belonged to him. By law, only the father and not the mother was the guardian of a couple’s children. Mill also cited the absence of laws on marital rape to prove the inequality suffered by the Englishwomen of that time. 3. Mill was surprised that in an age of liberty and equality, these same values were denied to women. Women were not naturally unequals; they were kept unequals because men had an interest in women's subordination. 4. 4 benefits of granting women equality: family will not be a school of despotism again, such families were an anachronism in modern democratic policies; it would double the mass of mental faculties available to society; it would create a better influence on mankind as a whole; their happiness will increase and thus will achieve the utilitarian principle of greatest happiness of the greatest number. Individual Liberty 1. This improvement of the mental and moral faculties of individuals, for both men and women, will take place, Mill argued, when they exercise three specific liberties: the liberty of thought and expression, including the liberty of speaking and publishing; the liberty of action and the liberty of associa tion. 2. For Mill, since the dominant ideas of a society usually emanate from the class interests of that society’s ascendant class, the majority opinion ma y not reflect the truth and may not benefit the society as a whole. It is more than likely that the suppressed minority opinion is true and those suppre ssing it will only prevent or deter mankind from knowing the truth. 3. If minority opinion is wrong, they can learn from it. Accepting opinion without questioning authority makes it a dead dogma. Truth is a multifaceted thing and usually every argument and opinion contain s a part of the truth. Suppressing one opinion then, leads to the suppression of one part of the truth. 4. The liberty principle is supposed to designate a sphere of self-regarding actions over which the individual is sovereign, and the only limits on this sphere are that actions do not harm others. Thus, if I want to use narcotic drugs, like heroin, that is my concern, unless I have to steal property or cause violence to others in order to obtain the drug. The context of whether an action is the concern of others and therefore a matter of public regulation depends on whether it is harmful to others. That it might well be harmful to the individual concerned is not the state's concern. It is no part of government's role to make men moral or even healthy if they should choose to engage in dangerous activities that are dangerous to themselves alone. This is Mill's famous critique of paternalism, or the idea that government should exercise the role of a parent, in relation to its citizens. 5. Mill defended liberty of association on three grounds: first, ‘when the thing to be done is likely to be done better by individuals than by gove rnment, speaking generally, there is no one [as] fit to conduct any business, or to determine how or by whom it shall be conducted, as those who are personally interested in it’. Secondly, allowing individuals to get together to do something, even if they do not do it as well as the government mig ht have done it, is better for the mental education of these individuals. The right of association becomes, for Mill, a ‘practical part of the political education. 6. The basic claim of utilitarianism is that an action which produces pleasure and avoid pain is morally good. It is also the consequence of the action that decides whether an action is right or wrong. Representative government 1. Mill sounds a warning about democracies by arguing that civil liberties are under greater threat in democratic than in despotic regimes. In the absolutist states of earlier times, the ruler’s interest was seen as opposed to that of the subjects, who were especially vigilant against any encroachment on their existing freedoms. In modern democracies based on the principle of selfgovernme nt, the people usually do not feel threatened by their own government. Mill berated this laxity and said that individuals needed to be more vigilant about the threat to their liberty 2. For Mill, the point of having a government was its performing two main functions: it must use the existing qualities and skills of the citizens to best serve their interests, and it must improve th e moral, intellectual and active qualities of these citizens. 3. He wanted to replace the secret ballot with open voting, that is, everyone must know how one has voted. For Mill, the fran chise was not a right. Unlike, say, the right to property, which allows one to dispose of one’s property in any arbitrary manner, the franchise is a trust, or a public duty. One must cast one’s vote for the candidate who se policies seem to best further the common interest.