The Social Context of Mill's Theory of Freedom

摘要

John Stuart was the most significant proponent of Liberalism in its various philosophical, social, political and humanistic manifestations in 19th-century Britain. The most famous of his writings is most likely On Liberty, in which he developed the classical negative theory of freedom that was to ground all such further theories. The heart of Mill's contention was that society had no claim upon the private existence of the individual but could only interfere with actions in which the individual affected another. But Mill was forced to acknowledge that it was impossible to draw a strict line between the individual and those affected by individual action. In fact, his defense of liberty came to depend on the manner in which the individual actually affected others to their collective advantage.View full textDownload full textKeywordsLiberty, Utilitarianism, Self-interest, Individuality, Progressive BeingRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03017601003668704