John Stuart Mill’s text about freedom ‘
In this essay the text "On the freedom" of John Stuart Mill will be addressed where the theme of the limits of freedom according to the author will take place according to the author according to the author. Evaluating the difference between "public and private sphere" to understand the fundamental elements of John Mill’s thinking, which focus particularly on the field of freedom. From the ideas raised above, it can be affirmed that the majority leads to oppress freedom.
First, "freedom is a necessary and fundamental element for every human being". For John Mill, an area of the liberated such as expression, was a key element for social progress, a sign of good democratic health and evolution that allows any debate. The opinion of a person is important so it can never be assured that it is wrong in its entirety since it can be right. Thanks to the tyranny of the majority, the opinion of the minority is repressed and it could be said that a robbery of human race is committed, thus generating evil.
According to John Stuart Mill in the text "About Freedom":
“If the opinion is true, they are deprived of the opportunity to change the error for the truth;And if erroneous, they lose what a benefit is no less important.”(Mill, 82)
Second, John finds the way of making social life and freedom compatible through the creation of two areas. The public sphere is professional life. In this area, the State regulates the ways of life and social relations so that a person’s freedom is limited by the State since it establishes norms of behavior, called laws (chosen by the majority to be governed by the State), The Civil Criminal Code to establish human reactions. As a result of the above, John Mill emphasizes that freedom is limited by the State when "our actions generate damage to third parties".
According to John Stuart Mill in the text "About Freedom":
“That the only purpose for which power can, with full right, to be exercised on a member of a civilized community against its will is to avoid harming others.”(Mill, 74)
While in the public sphere you cannot be free, what happens in the private sphere? In the private sphere there is talk of a plural freedom, since there is freedom of meeting, freedom of expression, beliefs, personal religion, where our most intimate ideas exist. All areas mentioned above authorize people to owe their own lives and authorize at the same time that they can live in society. John Mill mentions that the State is not allowed to interfere in the private sphere since it is here that the development of the individual’s individuality is generated.
According to John Stuart Mill in the text "About Freedom":
“This behavior consists, first, not to harm the interests of others;or rather certain interests, which, by express legal declaration or by tactical understanding, must be considered as rights.”(Mill, 151)
However, John Mill mentions that in certain situations the public sphere triumphs where certain freedoms must be renounced in order to obey the laws. (imposed by the majority and executed by the State). In addition, he mentions that, in the private sphere, the State cannot intervene unless our private actions damage third so this area would also have a limit. Consequently, according to mill this situation would allow citizens to establish control of those actions carried out by the State. “This principle is to affirm that the only purpose for which it is justifiable that humanity, individually or collectively, intermingles in the freedom of action of any of its members is the protection itself.”(Mill, 74)
In summary, it can be concluded that the tyranny of the majority next to the State, are responsible for freedom to possess limits, either to follow the laws imposed by them, for damaging third parties in the actions committed by a person,etc.
Personally, I think that there is no freedom as such, we will always be imprisoned by the State and the society in which we live and when we want to make a decision in our lives, we will be limited to follow the majority since we will feel that it will be the right thing toagree, but we will not love it.
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