John Stewarat Mills On Liberty and the Subjection of...

John Stewarat Mills On Liberty and the Subjection of Women Born in 1806, John Stewart Mill was an English philosopher who highly prized the Utilitarian belief system, or the doctrine of seeking the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people. Among his various political treatises, On Liberty and The Subjection of Women are excellent applications of his convictions in individualism and negative government. Though the subjects of each work differ to an extent, both are written in a dialogue format, and the general principles postulated in On Liberty can be easily applied to the second work. Essentially, Mill seeks to assert the importance of certain personal rights and freedoms, moral beliefs, and the integrity of the†¦show more content†¦Mill counters with a social metaphor explaining the natural processes by which unqualified candidates are excluded from certain positions - no one demands that blacksmiths meet certain physical criteria, for the ones who are best suited for the job will naturally come out on top. He sta tes, â€Å"If the political system of the country is such as to exclude unfit men, it will equally exclude unfit women† (56). It is not the government’s role to tell women that they would be â€Å"best served† by keeping in the home; it should be the woman’s choice, and thereafter we must let the chips fall where they may. A second doctrine that Mill values highly in On Liberty is what he refers to as an â€Å"experiment in living†, or an extension on the importance placed on freedom of opinion. â€Å"There should be different experiments in living†¦so that free scope be given to varieties of character, short of injury to others† (54). Mill encourages a person to live in such a way as to engage in â€Å"out-of-the-box† activities, and â€Å"to use and interpret experience in his own way† (55). Essentially, mankind has much to gain by being open-minded, and much to lose by being stubborn. The comparison of the subjection of women to slavery is similar to his examination of the Church in On Liberty. Just as masters demand unquestioning obedience from slaves, so too does the Church downplay individual thought, and stress absolute, mindless submission of Christians to Church doctrine. â€Å"As soon as