ABC donalds

John Stewart Mill’s On Liberty and Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto are both most regarded and influential work on political philosophy and set the guidelines how the government should be run. Mill presents the argument about the role and rights of individuals in society while Marx advocates for more conformity among society members. This essay presents the critical review of both works and how the approach taken by the two works has the more promises for the important issues facing modern Europeans. The discussion includes concluding analysis that states which book is most convincing as an argument and as a vision for the future of Europe.

Mill illustrates his idea of individual freedom within the context of state and society. According to Mill, liberty can be exercised in three ways and each of which musts be respected by the society; the liberty of Thoughts and expression, liberty of pursuits, and liberty of joining the like-minded persons to strive for a common purpose that conforms to legal rights of others.

He states that society progresses from lower to higher stages in the realm of representative democracy. That, in turn, forms the fundamental principles for development of liberty. Mill defines the concept of liberty beginning with ancient Greece and Roman philosophical views and its implications throughout the political history in establishing the England’s political structure to that date. The role of democracy played an essential part where rulers are taken as servants of the people. This evolution brought about a new problem of enforcing the will of majority on minority and hence creating a state of affairs where tyrannical power is allowed to exist both in outside and inside the political realms. Historically, ...

... middle of paper ...

...regime.

“The Communists, therefore, are on the one hand, practically, the most advanced and resolute section of the working-class parties of every country, that section which pushes forward all others; on the other hand, theoretically, they have over the great mass of the proletariat the advantage of clearly understanding the line of march, the conditions, and the ultimate general results of the proletarian movement." (p. 22)

The manifesto deals at length with those who in name of socialism actually promote capitalism and strive for their personal gain. As a result the struggle against the inspiration of reformism in communist movement has gone on unabated.

Bibliography:

Marx, Karl. The Communist Manifesto. Ed. Frederic L. Bender. New York: Norton, 1988. Print.

Mill, John Stuart. On Liberty. Ed. Elizabeth Rapaport. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub., 1978. Print.