Liberty and Paternalism

The fight for freedom has been on going throught history; however, many philosophers have shared their theories as to why the state should limit individuals' freedom. To what extent should liberty be limited and why should it be as such?

To begin, John Stuart Mill, author of "On Liberty", lays down "one very simple principle" to govern the use of force in society (both legal penalties and the operation of public opinion); this means to only force others in self-defense, either to defend one's self, or to defend others from harm (Mill, p.200).

The only limiting factor of liberty in Mill's view is physical harm. If a person is harmed then their sovereignty no longer exists because it is the foundational position of power. Children and those who are unable to care for themselves are allowed to be interfered with beyond the harm principle due to the fact that they could possibly harm themselves unintentionally and therefore cannot have sovereignty over self (p.198). Furthermore, Mill states that one may accept despotism over barbarians if the end result is their betterment; this implies that barbarians are of "nonage" and cannot be sovereign over self (p.198 ). As soon as people are capable of deciding for themselves they should then be given liberty from authority. Moreover, Mill divides human liberty into three parts: the freedom to think as one wishes, and to feel as one does; the freedom to pursue tastes and pursuits; the freedom to unite or meet with others (p.199). Without these freedoms, one is not considered to be truly free.

Mill feared that America, being a prosperous middle-class society, cared nothing for individual liberty and because of this he wrote his book. Mill argued that the state should only limit an individual's liberty if he or she has put another, or themselves, in danger. I agree with his theory because it allows citizens to experience their lives without an extreme number of constraints, all the while protecting themselves from harm that potentially could be caused by themselves or others.