Relationship Between Freedom And Authority

Relationship Between Freedom And AuthorityIn this essay I pass on discuss the relationship between laxdom and authority in jean-Jacques Rousseaus essay The Social Contract, and John Stuart footles essay On Liberty. I willing consider through my comparison of each philosopher that subs conception of liberty is the richer and more persuasive of the two.Rousseaus conception of exemption in The Social Contract is that people let out their freedom through a transformation from a state of temperament to civil society. We give up our natural freedom in ex heighten for cultivated freedom. His contention is that we can be both free and subject to political authority Rousseau finds its possible to be autonomous and subject to law, when we obey those laws of which we argon the author. He justifies this model of political authority by reflexion that government and laws are the will of the sovereign we give our consent for them to exist. That consent is guided by what Rousseau calls the command will.The oecumenic will is an idea that signifies the wishes or welfares of society as a whole. The purpose of the general will is to guide society to a common good, to propose society in its creation of laws and express what is best for all item-by-items. The problem with the general will, powder claims, is that it seems to reject individual diversity. Mill is worried that minorities may be oppressed if they think differently to the mass. Considering all individuals revoked their natural liberty through the change from a state of nature to civil society, Rousseau thinks that society must(prenominal) fury individuals to conform to the general will, or as he puts it, society must force them to be free. He thinks that by associating ourselves with the general will we acquire morality, and in truth become freer than we were before. To Rousseau, freedom is attained when unmatchable follows the general will.mill essay On Liberty is a strong counter argument to Rous seaus conception of freedom, in particular regarding the general will. Contrasting Rousseau, mill idea is not a social slew theory. According to Mill, in order for a society to be free it must avoid interfering with the lives of its people wherever possible. The threat, as Mill sees it, is that if we subscribe to the concept of the general will then society risks becoming paternalistic, or a tyranny of the volume where minority views are supressed if they do not conform to those of the majority.Mill thinks that society constrains the individual, and that society should be limited in the ply it can exert over individuals he enumerates three conditions upon which society must follow in order to be free freedom of aspect and feeling, freedom of tastes and pursuits and the freedom to unite with former(a) consenting individuals for any reason providing it does no harm to others. He says that if a society does not follow these conditions it is not free. Mill urgencys to avoid dogm as and laws as much as possible because he sees them as unnecessary constraints.The only principle that Mill does want to establish is the harm principle what he calls the object of his essay. The harm principle says that the only time one can interfere with the liberty of another individual, individually or collectively, is for self-protection. This principle claims that if an individual is not doing any harm to anyone in their actions, then society has no right to interfere. Over himself says Mill, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign it is the individual, and not society, who should decide how best to live. mill about conception of freedom appears to be a version of negative liberty, a type of freedom that allows one to do what they want free from restrictions. His freedom is the absence of obstacles, barriers or constraints. Rousseaus social contract theory is a type of positive liberty, that allows citizens to act in such a carriage as to take control of ones life and realise ones fundamental purposes.Rousseau characterises two types of freedom in The Social Contract the natural liberty, which is limited only by the strength of the individual and civil liberty, which is limited by the general will. Natural liberty is the freedom to follow ones own desires. Civil liberty is the freedom one attains when they follow the general will.Like Rousseau, Mill talks about a type of civil or social freedom however, unlike Rousseau he doesnt chew over about a state of nature. Rather, Mill states that his theory is justified by utilitarianism, he isnt making a comparison between a state of nature and civil society. I think this makes Mills argument more persuasive because he isnt making an presumption that we have natural rights. Mill doesnt seem to think we have natural rights, and even if we do, Rousseau doesnt tell us how we can actually know what they are. Rousseau appears to think that we have an intrinsic freedom that exists in the state of nature, and he wants to merge the individual liberty one supposedly has in the state of nature, with civil society. He thinks the way to do this is by following the general will.I think the biggest problem at the heart of Rousseaus social contract theory is the way he deals with individuals who disaccord with the general will. He states that if anyone refuses to obey the general will he will be compelled to do so by the whole body which means nothing else than that he will be forced to be free. His social contract declares that if an individual disagrees with the general will, then they must be wrong, and for their own good they must be forced to conform to the general will. Mill would undoubtedly consider such forced conformity a tyranny of the majority because of his strong belief that individuality is something that should be cherished and valued. Mill would disagree with Rousseaus notion that people should be forced to be free since he thinks its detrimental to both the indi vidual and the majority when an alternative doctrine is oppressed. Rousseau on the other hand, thinks that taking up the general perspective of the community is always the right thing to do.Contrary to Rousseau, Mill doesnt think that the majority gain their power because they are infallible, but simply because they are the close numerous or the most active part of the people. Mill states that silencing the expression of an opinion deprives the human race. Firstly, reasons Mill, if a majority silences an opinion that is different or less popular than their own, and that alternative opinion turns out to be right, then they are depriving themselves of what is right. Almost as great a benefit to society is listening to an alternative opinion even if it turns out to be wrong, because challenging dominant opinion prevents stagnation. Stifling opinion is always a bad thing Mill says that Absolute princes, or others who are accustomed to unlimited deference, usually feel this complete co nfidence in their own opinions on nearly all subjects because their opinion is never tested. It is through this collision with error that the truth becomes stronger. Mill thinks that this process of listening to a whole variety of thought and feeling leads to a healthier cultural climate and a place of greater freedom and liberty.Rousseau might object to Mills importance of minority opinion by saying that emphasis on individuality undermines social and political obligations. That its somehow an unrealistic idea to consider everyones opinion. He says in the social contract that citizens must be forced to follow the general will, because it means society will not depend on any one person for change to occur. Rousseau says of the general will that this condition is the device that ensures the operation of the political machine. He thinks its nave to listen to a minority not only because he assumes they must be wrong, but because they prevent the political system from making any progre ss. Rousseau thinks that without the general will, a political system would be absurd and tyrannical, and subject to the most terrible abuses. However, Mill would still disagree and respond by saying that if all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.I think where they really differ here is that Mill doesnt think anyone can be free if theyre forced to conform to the majority, whereas Rousseau thinks conformity is necessary for liberty and best for the community- he says that every authentic act of the general will, obligates or favours all the citizens equally. He knows that its unrealistic that all citizens will agree to the general will, and so he says minorities must be forced to follow it (forced to be free). Perhaps its painfully obvious here that Rousseau has left himself in a vulnerable position he doesnt really explain to us how one must be f orced to follow the general will. Thus, on that points possibly an element of compatibility between Rousseaus and Mills conceptions of freedom. If its the case that the process of being forced to be free includes Mills notion that people should be free to debate and discuss, and providing everyones opinion is treated with respect and they are convinced, through discussion, to change their views, then its certainly possible that eventually all citizens will individually come the same conclusions about the common good of their community. Its certainly conceivable, but it seems unlikely. Even if this compatibility were to exist, Mill would object by saying that we still need a variety of opinion even if its wrong to prevent social stagnation and to challenge popular views. He would say that providing an individual is doing what they please by means of the harm principle, then society has no right to demand such an active citizenship from them.Rousseau may take issue with Mills harm principle but asking what actually constitutes harm. Its obvious that physical harm is detrimental and people shouldnt be free to harm others but there are forms of consequentialism that can piece together seemingly harmonious actions, and prove that they actually have damaging effects. For instance, universal consequentialism focuses on the consequences for all people or else than the individual agent. Rousseau might say that a person may not seem to be harming another individual in their actions, but an ingenious person could find harmful consequences for almost anything a person does.One might find themselves aroused by conflicting emotions if made to choose between the philosophies of Rousseau and Mill, depending on how they feel about an issue. It seems especially difficult to feel one has to conform to the majority when they disagree with it, but of course when one is on the side of the majority it can be substantial to pick up why anyone wouldnt be. The majority of clima te scientists support global warming, and if one believes in global warming it seems hard to understand why anyone would reject it. If you want gay marriage but the majority doesnt, it seems crazy to think you have to conform to the general will. I think this is what makes Rousseaus and Mills conceptions of freedom so attractive to us.I find Mills argument to be more persuasive than Rousseaus because even with modifications to Rousseaus social contract, the general will seems unable to avoid a tyranny of the majority. The general will seems too abstract to utilise without thinking of it as simply the sum of all private interests Rousseau makes it hard for us to recognize what the general will is or how to determine it, and he offers no reassurance that the majority knows what is best. He seems to be making a huge assumption that we have natural rights in the first place, but he provides no evidence for them.Works CitedMill, John Stuart. On Liberty and The Subjection of Women. Londo n Penguin Group, 2006.Rousseau, Jean Jacques. The Social Contract, A new translation by Christopher Betts. New York Oxford University Press, 2008.