On Liberty
John Stuart Mill
Contains spoilers for the entire book.
Discussion topics
Topic 01 of 08
The tyranny of the majority
Why does Mill think the greatest threat to liberty in his time comes not from kings but from society and public opinion?
Keep the conversation going
- Where do you see that pressure at work today?
- Is social disapproval really as dangerous as legal punishment?
There is no single right answer. Bring your own reading.
Discussion topics
Why does Mill think the greatest threat to liberty in his time comes not from kings but from society and public opinion?
Keep the conversation going
- Where do you see that pressure at work today?
- Is social disapproval really as dangerous as legal punishment?
How useful do you find Mill's principle that power may be exercised over a person only to prevent harm to others?
Keep the conversation going
- What counts as harm, and who decides?
- Can you think of a case where the principle gives an answer you disagree with?
What are Mill's reasons for allowing even false opinions to be spoken?
Keep the conversation going
- Why does he think a true opinion held without challenge becomes a dead dogma?
- Are there opinions you think should not be heard, and how would Mill answer you?
Why does Mill value individuality and even eccentricity so highly?
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- What did you make of his worry that people come to have no nature of their own?
- Is the pressure to conform greater or weaker now than in his day?
What does Mill mean by experiments in living, and why does he think society needs them?
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- Which experiments in living from your own lifetime would he have defended?
- Where do such experiments meet their limits?
How does Mill draw the line between conduct that concerns only oneself and conduct that concerns others?
Keep the conversation going
- Is any action truly self-regarding?
- What may friends and neighbours do about a person harming only themselves?
How did you respond to Mill's discussions of alcohol laws, the sale of poisons and the Mormons?
Keep the conversation going
- Why does he think the state may require education without providing it?
- Which of his applications seems most persuasive, and which least?
Does Mill defend liberty as a right in itself or only because it makes society better off?
Keep the conversation going
- Does the difference matter?
- How would you sum up what his essay asks of a free society?
There is no single right answer. Bring your own reading.