Return to site

Earliest feminist theory

1) Introduction: Mill's primary work on rights is On Liberty, which was published in England in 1859. John Stuart Mill was the student of his father James Mill and Jeremy Bentham, who raised him to defend the theory of Utilitarianism. John Stuart Mill was a child prodigy and a genius of historical magnitude. He began reading Greek at the age of three, and Latin at the age of eight - he went on to published important work in a wide range of philosophy, economics, and some of the earliest feminist theory.

 

2) Overview: a) Not a social contract theory: Mill's theory is not a social contract theory, and he has no hypothesis about the state of nature or natural rights. Rather, Mill states that his theory of rights is justified by his moral theory, utilitarianism. However, it is not necessary to understand utilitarianism in order to understand his theory of rights. Because of this, I will delay most discussion of the connection between the two theories until the end of this section.

 

b) Basics of the theory: Mill's argues that a just state will provide a strong assurance of negative rights to all of its citizens, and will interfere as little as possible in the daily lives of its citizens. The argument begins with a recognition that there is a danger in a democratic government (one that was mentioned as an objection to Locke). The danger is that, since decisions are made by the principle of majority rule, the majority (or simply the most vocal group) will choose to oppress some minority group.

 

For example, when segregation existed in the middle of this century in the US, the black people were being oppressed by the majority of voters which were white; and there were even parts of the US in the 1950's where black people were in the majority, but where the white minority was more vocal and powerful so that the blacks were still oppressed. Mill's theory begins with a recognition that even with democracy there is a reasonable fear of a tyranny, the tyranny of the majority over a minority.

 

To have a just and moral society, there must be safeguards against this potential threat, and Mill's theory is designed to protect against this threat. 3) Details of the theory a) Tyranny of the majority (& paternalism): A tyranny of the majority typically arises when the majority finds some feature of a minority objectionable and the majority decides to use their political power to restrict the minority in some way. For example, you can imagine that the majority of some society felt that people of a certain caste (such as the untouchables of India) were distasteful, and so restricted them by law to certain jobs.

 

Another way in which it may develop is when a majority finds some practice of a minority to be dangerous or harmful to those who practice it, and so they pass laws to ban those practices. For example, the majority of people in the US are heterosexuals, and many of this majority believe that homosexuality is a sin, and is harmful (at least morally) to those who practice it. So the majority has in many cases made homosexual sex illegal, which the majority may claim to be better for the homosexuals as well. This is called being paternalistic.

 

Another example of paternalism would be if a town banned bungee jumping from a local bridge because it was concerned that those jumping would be hurt. (The classic modern example of paternalistic legislation is seat belt laws, though it is unclear whether this involves a tyranny of the majority. I also don't mean to imply that this is the best example to use when arguing Mill, it is probably quite a bad example because many people are sympathetic to seat belt laws. ) b) The Harm Principle: This is the central tenant of Mill's political theory Check This Out.

 

Why a principle is needed: Mill's theory begins with the observation that a tyranny of the majority is a dangerous and bad thing that must be guarded against. Merely having a democracy is no protection against this danger, so some other measures must be taken. What is needed is a means of keeping the government from legislating in an oppressive manner against minorities, while allowing government enough power to provide the benefits of civil society (e. g. , protection from crime, protection from external attack, enforcement of contracts, etc. ). What is needed is a principle that restricts government.

 

Mill points out that there are two types of actions that a person can take. First, there are actions which involve a harm to people other than the agent (of the action), and second, there are those actions which do not involve harm to other people. Mill contends that it is obvious that the government must be able to legislate concerning actions which do cause harm to others in order to maintain the existence of a civil society, but that it is certainly not necessary for the survival of civil society to pass laws regarding actions which do not involve harm to others.

 

Further, Mill claims that there is good reason to believe that it is beneficial to society for the government to have a strict policy of never passing laws which restrict actions which do not involve harm to others. Brief statement of the Harm Principle: Mill formulates what is called the Harm Principle, which goes like this: the sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number is self-protection. Or, in other words:

 

That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. (Mill, On Liberty, Chapter 1) Good quote elaborating on the Harm Principle: Mill writes: His own good, either physical or moral, is not sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because, in the opinion of others, to do so would be wise or even right.

 

These are good reasons for remonstrating with him, or reasoning with him, or persuading him, or entreating him, but not for compelling him or visiting him with any evil in case he do otherwise. To justify that, the conduct from which it is desired to deter him must be calculated to produce evil to someone else. The only part of the conduct of anyone for which he is amenable to society is that which concerns others. In the part which merely concerns himself, his independence is, of right, absolute.

1) Introduction: Mill's primary work on rights is On Liberty, which was published in England in 1859. John Stuart Mill was the student of his father James Mill and Jeremy Bentham, who raised him to defend the theory of Utilitarianism. John Stuart Mill was a child prodigy and a genius of historical magnitude. He began reading Greek at the age of three, and Latin at the age of eight - he went on to published important work in a wide range of philosophy, economics, and some of the earliest feminist theory.

2) Overview: a) Not a social contract theory: Mill's theory is not a social contract theory, and he has no hypothesis about the state of nature or natural rights. Rather, Mill states that his theory of rights is justified by his moral theory, utilitarianism. However, it is not necessary to understand utilitarianism in order to understand his theory of rights. Because of this, I will delay most discussion of the connection between the two theories until the end of this section.

b) Basics of the theory: Mill's argues that a just state will provide a strong assurance of negative rights to all of its citizens, and will interfere as little as possible in the daily lives of its citizens. The argument begins with a recognition that there is a danger in a democratic government (one that was mentioned as an objection to Locke). The danger is that, since decisions are made by the principle of majority rule, the majority (or simply the most vocal group) will choose to oppress some minority group.

For example, when segregation existed in the middle of this century in the US, the black people were being oppressed by the majority of voters which were white; and there were even parts of the US in the 1950's where black people were in the majority, but where the white minority was more vocal and powerful so that the blacks were still oppressed. Mill's theory begins with a recognition that even with democracy there is a reasonable fear of a tyranny, the tyranny of the majority over a minority.

To have a just and moral society, there must be safeguards against this potential threat, and Mill's theory is designed to protect against this threat. 3) Details of the theory a) Tyranny of the majority (& paternalism): A tyranny of the majority typically arises when the majority finds some feature of a minority objectionable and the majority decides to use their political power to restrict the minority in some way. For example, you can imagine that the majority of some society felt that people of a certain caste (such as the untouchables of India) were distasteful, and so restricted them by law to certain jobs.

Another way in which it may develop is when a majority finds some practice of a minority to be dangerous or harmful to those who practice it, and so they pass laws to ban those practices. For example, the majority of people in the US are heterosexuals, and many of this majority believe that homosexuality is a sin, and is harmful (at least morally) to those who practice it. So the majority has in many cases made homosexual sex illegal, which the majority may claim to be better for the homosexuals as well. This is called being paternalistic.

Another example of paternalism would be if a town banned bungee jumping from a local bridge because it was concerned that those jumping would be hurt. (The classic modern example of paternalistic legislation is seat belt laws, though it is unclear whether this involves a tyranny of the majority. I also don't mean to imply that this is the best example to use when arguing Mill, it is probably quite a bad example because many people are sympathetic to seat belt laws. ) b) The Harm Principle: This is the central tenant of Mill's political theory Check This Out.

Why a principle is needed: Mill's theory begins with the observation that a tyranny of the majority is a dangerous and bad thing that must be guarded against. Merely having a democracy is no protection against this danger, so some other measures must be taken. What is needed is a means of keeping the government from legislating in an oppressive manner against minorities, while allowing government enough power to provide the benefits of civil society (e. g. , protection from crime, protection from external attack, enforcement of contracts, etc. ). What is needed is a principle that restricts government.

Mill points out that there are two types of actions that a person can take. First, there are actions which involve a harm to people other than the agent (of the action), and second, there are those actions which do not involve harm to other people. Mill contends that it is obvious that the government must be able to legislate concerning actions which do cause harm to others in order to maintain the existence of a civil society, but that it is certainly not necessary for the survival of civil society to pass laws regarding actions which do not involve harm to others.

Further, Mill claims that there is good reason to believe that it is beneficial to society for the government to have a strict policy of never passing laws which restrict actions which do not involve harm to others. Brief statement of the Harm Principle: Mill formulates what is called the Harm Principle, which goes like this: the sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number is self-protection. Or, in other words:

That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. (Mill, On Liberty, Chapter 1) Good quote elaborating on the Harm Principle: Mill writes: His own good, either physical or moral, is not sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because, in the opinion of others, to do so would be wise or even right.