A 5 page essay that presents a summary of Mill's principal points in On Liberty. The writer presents two arguments against each point and evaluates Mill's position. Chapter one is examined thoroughly and subsequent chapters are briefly summarized. No additional sources cited.
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considers this to be an important issue and, in gewneral, what his position is in regards to civil liberty. In so doing, he limits his discussion simply to
civil liberty, without regards to associated issues such as the problem of philosophical necessity or free will. Mill defines civil liberty as being concerned with the "nature and
limits of the power which can be legitimately exercised by society over the individual" (Mill). The remainder of the essay concerns his elucidation of this definition. Mill first addresses
the historical aspects of the "problem" of civil liberty. He points out that, in the past, the struggle between liberty and authority has always been within the context of the
ruler and the ruled, with the implicit assumption that the interests of the governed were antagonistic to the interests of those governing. In order to obtain civil liberty, the traditional
solution has been a form of truce, with those arguing for liberty setting limits on the power of those in authority, which has typically been a monarch. Mill goes on
to say that the difference between the past and the present (which for Mill was the nineteenth century) was that men no longer viewed the government and its governors as
being antithetical to their interests, but rather looked upon government as an instrument for promoting and protecting the interests of all. This argument was undoubtedly true from Mills point
of view, which was that of a male Englishman of the upper middle class. Although to be fair to Mill, he was an earlier supporter of womens rights. Nevertheless, the
position that government was looked upon as upholding the and protecting the interests of everyone would have been hotly contested by many women, who at that time lacked the right