Study Questions on Mill (On Liberty)

1. Mill, like Madison and others, worries about  the ‘tyranny of the majority’.  How do they differ?

2. Mill excludes ‘backward’ nations and children from his prescription of rights. Why?

3. What would Mill think society’s attitude (and its laws) should be about the Muslim extremist belief that the US is the agent of the devil?

4. What value is there is letting people do what they want? When should they be restrained?

5. Sometimes Mill talks about contemporary countries, and particularly England, as more able to realize the ideals of liberty, and sometimes he says they are less likely to do so. What is the source of his pessimism?

Application 1: Apply the ‘harm principle’ (you can say anything except what harms others) to the set of norms advocating the use of ‘recreational drugs’.

Application 2: Mill is often cited as someone who praised ‘eccentricity,’ What oddball/eccentric today would he defend as showing a contribution to society?