Exam Questions – On Liberty Essay, Research Paper

J.S.

Mill: On Liberty Texts: * – J.S. Mill: ?On Liberty?

(pp 110 + 17) * – Gray, John and Smith,

G.: ?On Liberty in Focus?, 1991 (pp 165) ?? – Gray, John and Pelczinski, Zbigniew eds.: Conceptions of

Liberty in Political Philosophy?,?? ???? 1984, Chapter on Mill (pp 30) * – Ryan, Alan.: ?The

Philosophy of John Stuart Mill?, (2nd ed.) 1998, chapter 12 (pp 18) ?? – Ryan, Alan.: ?JS Mill?, 1974 ?? – Ten, C.: ?Mill on Liberty?, 1980 ?? – Wolff, Jonathan.: ?An Introduction to Political Philosophy?

1996, chapter 4 (pp 32) Some Broad Themes: Harm Principle ? is it

satisfactory? ??????? -??? clear/useful –

morally

tenable Liberty? – is it an ends or a means? ??????????? ???? – is it

compatible with utility? (and what sort) ??????????? ???? ?????? does it modify it? ??????????? ???? – does Mill

advocate positive or negative freedom? (Do the same for freedom of

speech and action ? maybe draw a pros and cons list for them and how they are

different) Questions:? Sample –

What

place does rationality have in Mill?s theory of Liberty? –

Does

Mill offer a satisfactory principle by which to judge whether interference in

another person?s actions is justifiable? –

Would

people who were free in the way J.S. Mill recommended make good citizens? Exam –

Either: ?[A person] cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it

will be better for him to do so?? Why did Mill think it illegitimate to

restrict a person?s liberty on these grounds, and are his reasons convincing? Or:

Does Mill?s defence of free speech ignore the obvious fact that one person?s speech

can cause harm to others? (June 2000) –

Either: For Mill, is Liberty a

means to an end? Or: Would Mill have prevented the dissemination of

racist literature? (June 1999) –

Either: ?Whoever succeeds in an overcrowded profession, or in a competitive examination..

reaps benefits from the loss of others, from their wasted exertion and

disappointment?.? (J.S. Mill On Liberty) Why then is society not

justified in preventing successful candidates from causing such harm to others? –

Or: Are

Mill?s arguments for individual freedom in On

Liberty compatible with his belief in the principle of utility? (June 1998) –

To

what extent does J.S. Mill?s On Liberty modify

utilitarian principles? (June 1997) –

To

what extent is Mill?s theory of individual liberty weakened by a lack of

concern for poverty and other social constraints? (June 1996) –

In

what ways does Mill think that society benefits from upholding the right to

free expression, and what limits does he recommend placing on the exercise of

this right? (September 2000) –

?In On Liberty, Mill has

failed utterly to reconcile his principle of liberty with that of utility?. Discuss. (September 1999) –

Is

Mill?s On Liberty a ?charter for

eccentrics?? (September 1998) –

Does

J.S. Mill?s On Liberty express a

negative concept of liberty? (September

1997) –

Why

does Mill make a distinction between self-regarding and other-regarding

actions?? Is it useful? (September 1996)