John Stuart Mill on Liberty and ControlPrinceton University Press, 2001 M06 18 - 264 pages John Stuart Mill is one of the hallowed figures of the liberal tradition, revered for his defense of liberal principles and expansive personal liberty. By examining Mill's arguments in On Liberty in light of his other writings, however, Joseph Hamburger reveals a Mill very different from the "saint of rationalism" so central to liberal thought. He shows that Mill, far from being an advocate of a maximum degree of liberty, was an advocate of liberty and control--indeed a degree of control ultimately incompatible with liberal ideals. |
From inside the book
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... self-regarding conduct and other kinds, was using the public-private distinction without labeling it as such. It will be argued, however, that this explanation of Mill's distinction is not viable, as he allows encroachments, intrusions ...
... self-regarding conduct, and it was one side of his distinction between such conduct and other kinds that harmed other individuals or the public (282). This distinction is widely believed to be the foundation of his defense of liberty ...
... himself” (278; emphasis added).15 To take another example in which this statement is ignored, Marshall Cohen, in an introduction to a widely used edition of Mill's writings, asserts that it is “Mill's principle that self-regarding ...
... self-regarding conduct. Thus C. L. Ten holds that Mill readily concedes that self-regarding conduct has certain adverse effects on others. His argument is that a principled defence of individual liberty will lead us to discount these ...
... self-regarding—by characterizing it as conduct of a person who “is led to violate a distinct and assignable obligation to any other person” (281). This suggests that harm was narrowly defined and that the individual, though not immune ...