John Stuart Mill's Argument Essay

“Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself,” says essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. I believe this quote means that contagious happiness spreads through everyone, including yourself. For example, whenever I watch movies with my family, not only do I receive the benefit of watching a new movie, but I also spend time with my family. For one of my friend’s birthday, we volunteered at the Oregon Food Bank, and I have never experienced volunteering at a food bank before knowing I shared my time to care for the other people in my community. If someone volunteers to do special deeds for their community, such as asking a friend or a neighbor if they need help with their groceries, or even volunteering

When it comes to glue usage, kindergarten teachers the world over agree that a dab will do. Nevertheless, despite centuries of debate, there is no such consensus about the ideal amount of individualism a society should desire. In his 1863 work On Liberty, philosopher John Stuart Mill seeks to address this issue, and explain the generally salutary progress of human thought and behavior. He concludes that most reasonable minds are produced through discussion and debate with the varied viewpoints of others, advocating for intellectual diversity. Mill also argues that, on a societal level, civilized outcomes are accomplished best through a mix of conformity to customs and individual agency to alter social norms. Mill’s arguments establish that individuals, or even isolated groups, are less effective than well-connected, heterogeneous groups; the later works of Putnam and Kwon et al. bolster and extend this truth with specific, contemporary evidence.

Utilitarianism defined, is the contention that a man should judge everything based on the ability to promote the greatest individual happiness. In other words Utilitarianism states that good is what brings the most happiness to the most people. John Stuart Mill based his utilitarian principle on the decisions that we make. He says the decisions should always benefit the most people as much as possible no matter what the consequences might be. Mill says that we should weigh the outcomes and make our decisions based on the outcome that benefits the majority of the people. This leads to him stating that pleasure is the only desirable consequence of our decision or actions. Mill believes that human

power to alter the exchange as it sees fit. If this function of the state is

In his work On Liberty, Mill placed much emphasis on individual liberty and its vital role in political society. To Mill, this phrase may be defined as the liberty of the individual to be the final judge over his actions; to decide what is right and wrong and to act upon that standard. On a secondary level, it also implies one's freedom to pursue one's own individuality. Mill believed in a society in which each individual leads his own distinctive life according to his own unique talents; unfettered by regulations upon thought, opinion, actions etc.

This paper will discuss John Stuart Mill’s argument about the freedom of expression of opinion, and how Mill justified that freedom. I will also discuss how strong his argument was and whether or not I agree with it. John Stuart Mill was a political economist, civil servant, and most importantly an English philosopher from the nineteenth century. Throughout his writing, John Stuart Mill touched on the issues of liberty, freedom and other human rights. In his philosophical work, On Liberty, he discussed the relationship between authority and liberty, as well as the importance of individuality in society. In chapter two of On Liberty, Mill examined the freedom of expression in more detail, examining arguments for and against his own.

Using philosopher John Mills’s definition as his own as well, he believes that happiness is not focusing on oneself, but rather “Those only are happy who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness; on the happiness of others. (John Mills)” In other terms, the only way one can be happy is by putting forth their attention to the happiness of others, and not themselves. Mahatma Gandhi once said that “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Compassion makes one happy. A brain-imaging study, headed by neuroscientist Jordan Grafman from the National Institute of Health, showed that the what is called “pleasures centers” in the brain are equally active when we observe someone giving money to charity as when we receive money ourselves. Actually, giving to others increases our well-being far above and beyond spending money on ourselves. In an experiment conducted in Science by Harvard Business School, professor Michael Norton, participants received a sum of money. One half of the participants were instructed to spend the money on themselves, and the other half were told to spend the money on others. In the end, participants that had spent money on others felt significantly more joy than those that had spent money on themselves. As one can see, there is science behind it. Giving is the key to

The world seems to be a dark and unforgiving place, but happiness is hidden within. It is found in a beautiful view, an uplifting song, or a compliment from a friend. According to the Ted Talk video, The Habits of Happiness, Matthieu Ricard claims that everyone “has a deep, profound desire for well-being or happiness”(Ricard 2:39). Ricard uses the three techniques of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos to captivate and move his audience. With the use of metaphors, personal experiences, and even graphs Matthieu explained to his audience the full force and perception of the bendable word that is happiness. This Ted Talk dove into philosophical meaning on just how to achieve well-being, without having everything in the world.

John Stuart Mill is a philosopher who believes in the right of freedom of expression rather than just freedom of speech. He believes in freedom of expression because it pertains to a variety of rights, including writing, verbal, and expression via the use of language or speech which is simply verbal. The use of coercion to prevent individuals in a society from holding true to their values remains illegitimate because humans are fallible and the unpopular view may actually turn out to be the correct one. Another argument he held was that having the freedom of expression is good and everyone’s beliefs matter, but someone should always be able to have reasons behind their belief and be able to engage in debate and force oneself to think about

John Stuart Mill discusses the conception of liberty in many ways. I’d like to focus of his ideas of the harm principle and a touch a little on his thoughts about the freedom of action. The harm principle and freedom on action are just two subtopics of Mill’s extensive thoughts about the conception on liberty. Not only do I plan to discuss and explain each of these parts on the conception of liberty, but I also plan to discuss my thoughts and feelings. I have a few disagreements with Mill on the harm principle; they will be stated and explained. My thoughts and feelings on Mill vary but I’d like to share my negative opinion towards the principle and hope to put it in a different perspective.

Happiness is the fundamental objective of life. This bold statement is unanimously agreed upon among generations of people on every corner of our planet. However, the real question that has been contested for centuries is the true meaning of happiness? The true meaning of happiness is one of the most highly debated philosophy topics in history. Most famous are the writings of Aristotle and John Stuart Mill who both paint very opposing pictures of happiness. Mill believes happiness is obtained through pleasure and the absence of pain. On the other hand, Aristotle insist happiness is obtained through living a fulfilling, virtuous life. This passage will examine Aristotle 's and Mill 's views on happiness as well as give an opinion one which philosophical theory is most convincing.

John Stuart Mill was a British philosopher who was born on May 20, 1806 in London, England, to Harriet Burrow and James Mill, a noted economist, philosopher and historian. James Mill was an educated man who was heavily involved in an early 19th century movement called 'philosophic radicalism, ' a school of thought also known as Utilitarianism, which highlighted the demand for a scientific foundation for philosophy, as well as a humanist approach to economics politics. It was this foundation from which James Mill urged and advanced his eldest son 's education from a very early age. John Stuart studied Greek at age three and Latin at eight, and he was asked to recite everything he had learned to his father every day. John Stuart also studied mathematics and science for his personal enjoyment and would engage in long discussions with his father about histories and biographies that he had read. It is interesting to note that John Stuart was also empowered with the responsible for educating his eight younger siblings. His childhood comprised of a strict environment of learning, teachings and tutoring, however, John Stuart felt that he was emotionally compromised by his father’s educational plan. Although John Stuart never actually attended university, by the age of twenty, he essentially had a postgraduate self-education in logic, political economy and law. As an adult, John Stuart once stated that, out of all of his studies, teachings and education, the element that he

John Locke (1632-1704) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) are two important thinkers of liberty in modern political thought. They have revolutionized the idea of human freedom at their time and have influenced many political thinkers afterwards. Although their important book on human freedom, John Locke’s The Second Treatise of Government (1689) and John Mill’s On Liberty (1859), are separated 170 years, some scholars thinks that they are belonging to the same conceptual tradition, English Liberalism. In this essay, I will elaborate John Locke and John Stuart Mill view on human freedom and try to find the difference between their concept of human freedom despite their similar liberal tradition background.

“Absolute liberty is the absence of restraint; responsibility is restraint; therefore, the ideally free individual is responsible to himself” - Henry Brooks Adams. There has been great debate, past and present with regards to what constitutes as an individuals liberty. It has been subject to constant ridicule and examination due to violations of civil rights. Freedom, liberty, and independence are all important human rights represented within John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty.

John Stuart Mill can be recognized as an influential English philosopher of his time. He strongly believed in the concept of freedom of speech and choice, without the censorship that laws and legal constitution bring. In other terms Mill’s approach states that democracy is the only way we can flourish if we let our ideas surface. This paper will be centered around John Stuart Mill's theory of liberal democracy. This paper will be examining five different authors that have been inspired by Mills theoretical ideas.