What are the main aspects of Mills principle of liberty Are they too Essay

What are the main aspects of Mills principle of liberty Are they too vague to be of any practical political value - Essay Example an be considered to be among the most influential books dealing with the liberal principle of John Mill and it has as its main theme at the beginning a distinction of the threats to liberty both from the past as well as the new ones. According to Mill, the greatest threat to liberty that existed in the past consisted of all the authority in the society being in the hands of few individuals, either in the form of monarchy or aristocracy (Mill, 1859). He believes that although there could be less worried concerning the restrictions to personal liberties by benevolent monarchs, it is a fact that the personal freedoms of individuals in the society tended to be suppressed under monarchs that were not accountable to their people. Instead, the latter monarchs would put their own interests first before those of their people, thus ensuring that they worked towards the suppression of the liberties enjoyed their people in pursuit of their personal goals. The traditional threats to liberty, represented by the rule of authoritarian monarchs, were threats which had to be addressed through the intervention of philosophical radicals who would institute democratic reforms for the benefit of the populace. According to Mill, the t raditional threats to liberty are not the only ones that members of the society should be worried about and this is mainly because even in democratic states, there are threats to the personal liberties its citizens (Jacobson, 2000). However, in this case, instead of the tyranny of individuals being dominant in the society, there is the tyranny of the majority, so that the minority has little option but to follow the lead of the majority or suffer dire consequences. As a result of these views, Mill sets out to develop his principles concerning how the threats to liberties can be neutralized in any society, notwithstanding whether it is democratic or not. Mill states that the main idea behind the control of individuals within the society through the denial