John Stuart Mill's On Liberty

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mind, the individual is sovereign”. Individuals exercise their sovereignty both through their judgment and actions. The main ideas that Mill explains in his On Liberty could be grouped into the following sections. 1. Mill opens his treatise by pointing out that the government is a “dangerous weapon” if it is not appropriately controlled and if its authority is not limited by the liberty of the citizens. In this way, Mill suggests, citizens will be ruled by a government whose rule is guaranteed against oppression and tyranny.

However, at a given stage society develops into democracy “Page # 2” which does not fear tyranny any longer but where the majority can easily criminalize or marginalize a minority group of society and encroach on their rights or liberty. Mill calls it the “tyranny of the majority” and believes it is much worse than the tyranny of government because it is easier for individuals to be protected from a tyrant than “against the tyranny of the ...

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community society has the right to legitimately exercise power over any individual against his will only in order to prevent harm to others. However, Mill distinguishes two categories of “harms”. If an individual fails to pay taxes, rescue another drowning individual, or appear in court to give evidence, then these acts (which he calls acts of omission) should be qualified as harmful and may be regulated.

But if individuals give their consent to take risks without fraud or force, for example, by accepting unsafe employment offered by others, this is not considered as harming them (acts of commission). “Page # 3” In this case, society is not allowed to intervene except ...

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