Throughout the three excerpts from Mill's work in our book, he develops well conceived, thought provoking thesis' about how people should interact. In On Liberty, Mill delivers a convincing argument that all opinions whether we judge them to be right or wrong should be heard. On the evils of silencing opinions, he says "If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error. When thinking through his argument, it is impossible to disagree, yet we see examples every day of the efforts which are made to silence or ostracize those who would dare to question the morality or rightness of one position or another. I feel fairly confident in saying that we Americans who have probably the most freedom of any people to stand up for our ideas, often stand silent as the vocal minority or at times the stampeding majority determine a path with which we disagree.
In "Of Individuality, as One of the Elements of Well-Being, Mill champions the cause of those who would dare to step outside the acceptable norms of the time. I especially enjoyed the 1st paragraph where Mill when examining moral and social reformers says, "The majority, being satisfied with the ways of mankind as they now are . . . cannot comprehend why those ways should not be good enough for everyone . . . . " (p. 517). Yet, he acknowledges that these social reformers are doing what " . . . in their own judgement, think would be best for mankind" (p. 517). Mill argues that genius can only be formed in an environment where individuality is not only allowed, but encouraged. He seems to encourage ignoring the moral and societal norms in order to potentially bring some significant change to the current point of view of acceptable society behavior.
The Subjection of Woman, Mill's argues that the treatment of all persons, especially woman should be based upon the " . . . principle of perfect equality" (p. 521). While, I have no doubt to the sincerity of Mill's position, the fact that he had fallen in love with a married woman who was unable (due to current law) to obtain a divorce, cannot go unnoticed. Based on his body of work, his stated belief in the equal treatment of women is not surprising, yet this piece has a tint of emotion along with Mill's usual logic. As a man of principle and firm belief, his Statement Repudiating the Rights of Husbands lends credence to his stated position of the equality of women.
Looking a the writings of Mill's compared to those in the section on Victorian Ladies and Gentlemen, it is easy to identify the strong belief in the need for some changes in society. The Victorian Ladies and Gentlemen section gives us a personal feel for the men and women of that era and how they interacted and viewed themselves and their roles. The logic in Mill's writings gives us the philosophical reasoning and intellectual arguments for the changes to come.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Wanda,
Good discussion of Mill! Even though you write on several of his writings, rather than focusing on a single one, you still devote adequate attention to your analysis of each. Good work!
John Mills was extraordinary to me. It makes it known that one opinion to another has no precedence. I agree that we all have opinions and we can support our opinions. To me, there is no greater weight on one compared to the next. Some individual may have something great to bring to the plate.
I truly enjoyed his “The Subjection of Woman” and “Statement Repudiating the Rights of Husbands” I loved the way he supported the fact that women should be treated equally. You know the fallen in love with a married woman may have had some weight on his thinking and writing about equality. I think it was kind of sad that women could not get a divorce if they wanted to but a man could.
John Mills believed in change and I appreciated the fact that he brought it to the society’s attention. The things that he spoke on, the society already knew but they did not want to step outside of the norm. Mills was not a norm individual when it came to change.
Johns Mills was one of favorite autors in our readings. I felt his sincereness in looking out for women and equality.
you did a great job in going deep in detail with several parts of the writing. I like how you pointed out the part of subjection of women that he was in love with a women tied by law to another. I think he would still have had the same views due to his upbringing though.
Post a Comment