Liberty, Part 1: John Stuart Mill and Liberty

We will examine the views of John Stuart Mill this week; Mill’s view is a version of consequentialism, and he uses it to defend the principle that virtually all human speech—including blasphemous and obscene materials—should be protected. We will examine and criticize this principle, and also examine the idea of how we might craft our own philosophical papers.

Reading:

John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter 2. Available at Available at http://www.bartleby.com/130/2.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

VIDEO: The Harm Principle.

Jacob Mchangma, “Evidence is Growing that Free Speech is on the Decline.” Available at https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/12/04/evidence-is-growing-that-free-speech-is-declining/Links to an external site.

Danny Westneat, “The UW goes back to school on free speech." Available at https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/uw-goes-back-to-school-on-free-speech/Links to an external site.

Slides:

102_24_9thsession.pptx

102_24_10thsession.ppt

102_24_11thsession.pptx