pol320 - reading guide - mill - november 24, 2008

Utilitarianism

Chapter 1

  1. What does Mill say is the main problem of “speculative thought”?
  2. Why does Mill say that Kant is a crypto-utilitarian?

Chapter 2

  1. What is utilitarianism according to Mill?
  2. How does Mill respond to the objection that a focus on pleasure as the end of life degrades human beings?
  3. What is the distinction Mill draws between different kinds of pleasures?
  4. On what basis can we know that one sort of pleasure is superior to another?
  5. How is the exercise of higher faculties related to human happiness?
  6. How does Mill respond to the objection that making most people happy is an impossibly ambitious goal for society?
  7. On what basis can a utilitarian justify acts of self-sacrifice?
  8. How is the utilitarian standard of conduct related to an individual’s happiness?
  9. What does this standard imply for the design of laws and social institutions and for education and socialisation?
  10. What does it imply for the duties of the individual and the considerations that should guide individuals in their daily lives?
  11. What is the distinction Mill draws between the motive of an action and the standard for evaluating its worth?
  12. How does Mill respond the challenge that utilitarianism requires too much knowledge of ordinary individuals?

Chapter 3

  1. What makes utilitarianism effective as a moral code?
  2. If people seek pleasure and try to avoid pain, why would they ever be willing to act in accordance with utilitarian principles?

Chapter 4

  1. How does Mill seek to prove that the principle of utility is correct?

Chapter 5

  1. What is justice according to Mill?
  2. What is the relationship between justice and utility?
  3. How might Mill respond to those who argue that utilitarianism provides insufficient support for individual rights and insufficient protection for minorities?

On Liberty

Chapter 1

  1. What is the basic question addressed by the essay?
  2. How do constitutionalism and democracy protect liberty against authority?
  3. What is the greatest threat to freedom in modern liberal democracies according to Mill?
  4. What does Mill mean by the phrase “tyranny of the majority”?
  5. How does the tyranny of the majority operate? Why and how does public opinion interfere with liberty?
  6. What is the fundamental principle that Mill seeks to defend in the essay? To what sorst of societies is this principle intended to apply? # On what basis does Mill propose to defend the principle?
  7. What is the “appropriate region of human liberty,” the “sphere of action” in which Mill says that society has only an indirect interest and in which individuals should be free from legal or social sanctions?

Chapter 2

  1. Why is it always wrong to suppress freedom of opinion, according to Mill?
  2. What are the specific arguments he offers in defence of this position?
  3. Why should we be open to the possibility that the opinion we are trying to suppress might be true or at least contain some important element of truth?
  4. Why should we refuse to suppress it even if we are certain that it is false?
  5. Why isn’t it reasonable to insist that extreme opinions not be expressed in an offensive manner?
  6. Is Mill’s analysis persuasive? Is it consistent with his utilitarianism?
  7. That is, does he pay enough attention to the harmful impact of some ideas and opinions?
  8. What would Mill say about efforts to prohibit “hate speech” as we do in Canada?
  9. Should we always allow people to express ideas and opinions that we find dangerous or even offensive to our values and our way of life? Why or why not?
  10. Do you think that we should let Nazis express their views? Communists? Why or why not?
  11. What if their views start to become popular?

Chapter 3

  1. What distinction does Mill draw between actions and opinions?
  2. How does this constrain the expression of opinions?
  3. Why is it desirable that there be different “experiments in living”?
  4. How is individuality related to the well-being of society as a whole and to human progress?
  5. Why is it desirable for people to choose their own plans of life?
  6. What would Mill respond to the clam that custom contains a lot of embodied wisdom that we do well to follow?
  7. Compare Mill’s concern with the censorship (and self-censorship) exercised by custom and a concern for the opinion of others with Rousseau’s critique of amour propre in the Second Discourse.
  8. Why is originality important? What makes genius possible?
  9. What if what is distinctive about a person’s way of life reflects neither originality nor genius but only a desire to depart from the norm, perhaps even eccentricity?
  10. Is it still important to leave the person space to pursue this way of life? Why?
  11. What makes custom despotic? What makes progress possible?

Chapter 4

  1. In general terms, what is the proper limit to the authority of society over the individual?
  2. What do we owe to society and why?
  3. When should we be free to consult only our own interests and inclinations and why?
  4. Does this reflect an indifference to the well-being of others? Why not?
  5. What sorts of judgments and reactions are appropriate in responding to the ways in which others live their lives and what sorts are inappropriate? Why?
  6. How is it possible to distinguish between actions that are merely self-regarding and ones that affect others in ways that entitle us to intervene, at least with our judgments and opinions?
  1. What is the strongest argument against public interference with purely personal conduct?
  2. What does Mill think of efforts to ban the use of alcohol?
  3. What about the efforts to prohibit polygamy?
  4. How would he respond to efforts to regulate drugs in contemporary societies?

Chapter 5

  1. Do economic regulations necessarily violate Mill’s principle against interfering with self-regarding actions? Why not?
  2. What would he think of consumer protection legislation requiring labelling on packages?
  3. Might it be justifiable to impose special taxes on commodities like alcohol and tobacco? Why or why not?
  4. What restrictions on contract are appropriate? Why shouldn’t people be able to sell themselves into slavery according to Mill?
  5. How do the principles of the essay apply to family life, especially to relations between husbands and wives and between parents and children?
  6. What does this imply for education?
  7. Does Mill think it is acceptable to restrict marriage to those who can support children?
  8. Why is it preferable to limit government involvement in many areas that are not strictly governed by the principle of liberty?
  9. What makes government involvement in such areas desirable?

The Subjection of Women

Chapter 1

  1. What is the purpose of this essay?
  2. What does Mill think of the argument that we should respect institutions and practices that are of long standing and are deeply rooted in society?
  3. Why should we regard the social subordination of women as an unjustifiable relic of the rule of the strongest?
  4. What should we make of the argument that women consent to their subordinate position?
  5. How does Mill respond to the claim that women are by nature different from men and that these natural differences account for and justify the social differences between men and women? Does Mill deny that there are natural differences between mena nd women?

Chapter 2

  1. According to Mill, what does justice require with respect to relations within the family?
  2. Is justice compatible with any formal inequality of authority within the family?
  3. Is justice compatible with a traditional division of labour within the family, according to Mill?
  4. In his view, is it reasonable to assume that most women will want to devote most of their energies to managing the household and raising the children, once they marry?

Chapter 3

  1. Why should all occupations be open to women as well as men?
  2. Does Mill’s argument depend on the claim that women are equal to men in talents and abilities?
  3. Does Mill think that there are particular characteristics of women – at least as they were in his time – that seem to make them especially suitable for some tasks? What sorts?
  4. How does Mill account for the differences between the achievements of men and women in various fields?

Chapter 4

  1. What benefits would follow from the changes that Mill proposes?
  2. Is this course of action compatible with his utilitarianism?
  3. Why is the subordination of women bad for men?
  4. What is Mill’s ideal of married life? Why?

Representative Government

Chapter I

  1. In what ways and to what extent is the form of government a matter of choice?
  2. Does it make sense to talk about better and worse forms of government in general or only in relation to particular cases?
  3. What three conditions limit the suitability of a form of government for a population?
  4. What is the relationship between opinion and power?
  5. How is that relevant to the question of whether government is subject to choice?

Chapter II

  1. What are the two crucial functions of government and how are these related to the challenge of identifying the criteria of good government?

Chapter III

  1. Why does Mill consider representative government to be the ideally best form of government?
  2. Compare his views on this point with those of Rousseau.

Chapter IV

  1. Under what circumstances, if any, is a representative democracy an inappropriate form of government?

Chapter V

  1. What powers should people exercise in a representative government?
  2. Should they govern directly?
  3. Should their representatives govern directly?
  4. What should they do and why?

Chapter VI

  1. What advantage does Mill think representative government enjoys over a bureaucracy?
  2. Does bureaucracy have any advantages over representative government?

Chapter VII

  1. According to Mill, how can the interests of the majority conflict with the general good of the community in a democracy?
  2. Would Mill think that Rousseau’s concept of the general will might offer a solution to this problem? Why or why not?
  3. How does Mill’s system of proportional representation help to reduce the dangers of a tyrannical majority?
  4. How does it enhance the power of minorities and of individual dissidents?

Chapter VIII

  1. Does Mill think that everyone should be able to vote?
  2. What limits would he place on the right to vote?
  3. What modifications would he make in equality of voting? Why?

Chapter X

  1. Compare Mill’s discussion of voting with Rousseau’s. What are the similarities and differences?

Chapter XII

  1. How should representatives think of their relationship to those who are represented. Should they try to reflect the views of their constituents or follow their own beliefs?

Chapter XVI

  1. What role does a sense of shared nationality play in a good representative democracy?

Chapter XVIII

  1. How should colonies be governed and why?

Principles of Political Economy

Book IV

Chapter I

  1. What are the features that characterize a modern society in which the economy grows on a regular basis?
  2. What is Mill’s general assessment of the consequences of economic growth?

Chapter VI

  1. Should the pursuit of economic growth be a permanent goal of human society in Mill’s view? Why or why not?

Book V

Chapter I

  1. What are the principal functions of government in relation to the economy?

Chapter XI

  1. What are the similarities and differences between Mill’s general defence of laissez-faire in Principles of Political Economy and his defence of individual freedom in On Liberty?
  2. On what grounds does Mill defend government intervention in the economy?
  3. Would Mill be for or against consumer protection legislation?
  4. On what basis does he defend the provision of economic support to the poor by the state?
  5. What principles should govern the distribution of economic benefits to the poor?

Appendix

Chapter I

  1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the institution of private property according to Mill?
  2. Would communism be better or worse than capitalism according to Mill?

Chapter II

  1. How should the inheritance of property be regulated according to Mill? Why?
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