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Plato Vs. John Stuart Mill’s Views towards Liberty

Plato Vs. John Stuart Mill’s Views towards Liberty

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Plato Vs. John Stuart Mill’s Views towards Liberty
Contents
1.

Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 4

2.

Freedom of an individual ......................................................................................................... 5

3.

Restrictions on Liberty ............................................................................................................ 5
Freedom of expression ................................................................................................................ 6
Freedom of the will ..................................................................................................................... 7

4.

The necessity of customs and rituals ....................................................................................... 8

5.

Views on the equality and respective political regimes .......................................................... 8

6.

Relations between a state and citizens ..................................................................................... 9
Individuality .............................................................................................................................. 10
Education ................................................................................................................................... 11

7.

Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 11

8.

References ............................................................................................................................. 13

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Plato Vs. John Stuart Mill’s Views towards Liberty
Abstract
This paper provides a comparative analysis between the notion of Plato and John S. Mill on
liberty. The paper discusses Plato’s and Mill’s schools of thought on freedom of an individual,
restriction on liberty, necessity of customs and rituals, views on equality of political powers, and
the relations between citizens and the state. It is evident that there is a significant difference
between Plato and Mill approaches as far as liberty is concern; though it is evident that their
perceptive on individual freedom are not absolute. The limitation of liberty by Plato is based on
labor division in his ideal state, while Mill limitation is based on the fact that there might be
chances that other individuals may be injured.

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Plato Vs. John Stuart Mill’s Views towards Liberty
1. Introduction
To begin with the ancient times, various scholars and philosophers around the world were
critically observing the liberty issue. This question or issue even became complicated with the
advent of initial states and cities since it became evident that limits of freedom must be precisely
defined using a legal framework. These philosophers include Plato who was born in Athens
around 427 B. C, and who is also known to be the first philosopher to commit his life to the
contemplation of diverse philosophical issues. It is worth noting that Dialogues are the most
famous Plato's work, which involved various aspects of human life and analyses the issue of
individual liberty (Pater, 2002). In particular, the dialogue about a detailed Republic which
constitutes of the political structure for an ideal state - polis, as well as explaining the issue of
freedom in a society framework. On the other, John Stuart Mill was a politician, economist, and
a philosopher from Britain during the 19th century who had great passion in studying issues of
liberty. It is also worth noting that the John Stuart Mill Perception on liberty vastly contributed to
the establishment of the liberalism theory. Moreover, an essay by Mill written in 1859
concerning liberty provided a detailed analysis on the notion, as well as describing the
relationship between freedom and a particular person, society and the state (Capaldi, 2004).
Furthermore, it is important to note that J.S. Mill’s views were influenced by the ideas of other
philosophers such as Aristotle, Plato and Socrates because he spend most of his live researching
on various theories on liberty (Fitzpatrick, 2010) Therefore, various elements in Mill's approach
seems to be same as Ancient Greek philosophy provisions. It is also worth noting that Mill’s
ideas were focused on a compete essence of freedom for individuals, as well as on their
independence from state authorities and the society. In comparison to Plato, a philosopher who
defended total control idea for both political and private life of citizens, Mill came up with a
perceptive of providing freedom of expression, will and action to individuals (Donner &
Fumerton, 2009). Furthermore, it is evidently clear that research on the notion or aspect of
liberty is still important and relevant to all races and societies, now and even in future across the
world concerning the democratic principles that have become contemporary and the regimes
involving modern political liberty. This essay traces the differences between Plato theoretical
approach and J.S. Mill’s approach towards the issue of liberty, as well as explaining the
similarities...