A Marxist Critique Of Karl Marx And John Mill's On Liberty

2262 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: John mill on liberty essay

To begin a Marxist critique of On Liberty, a summary of both Karl Marx and John Mill’s views are pertinent to the basic understanding of their thoughts through their work. Laying out the fundamentals of their views will help us recognize what types of arguments they might have towards one another on the topic of Net Neutrality. Net Neutrality can broadly be defined as the government intervention to prevent internet providers from charging content providers more for greater access to their internet service. In Mill’s view, his goal is not only to achieve liberty for all citizens but the truth as well. The problem with truth is that it does not always make itself apparent. Also, human opinion is fallible which is why Mill thinks society should not impose its values on anyone. By society encouraging and rewarding conformity, there is less room for liberty and methods to find the truth. Mill believes in achieving liberty, the government would have to work as a tool, a representative of the people’s will. It is in society’s best interest to protect and maintain personal liberty rather than to fixate over
An example of the exploitation the Bourgeoisie has done is that they make you believe that you should do what you love. This helps capitalist by paying you less because when the people work for what they love and not for the money they will take a less favorable job with terrible pay. The capitalist will pay them less to keep more money for themselves because they are allowed to get away with it. They do this without being questioned, in the result of you taking less because you love your job. Marx reminds us that in this society money conveys status and provides security giving the capitalist the power where the workers do not. This form of society has always been an oppressed majority living under the control and management of an oppressive

Show More
Related

  • Mill Vs Metternich

    412 Words  | 1 Pages

    He is was total opposite of Metternich. Mill’s “On liberty” essay was about the individual liberty. To Mill’s, the only important thing is the happiness of the individual, and such happiness may only be accomplished in an enlightened society, in which people are free to partake in their own interests. Thus, Mills stresses the important value of individuality, of personal development, both for the individual and society for future progress. For Mill, an educated person is the one who acts on what he or she understands and who does everything in his or her power to understand. Mill held this model out to all people, not just the specially gifted, and advocates individual initiative over social control. He emphasizes that things done by individuals are done better than those done by governments. Also, individual action advances the mental education of that individual, something that government action cannot ever do, and for government action always poses a threat to liberty and must be carefully

    Read More

  • Respected Philosopher, John Stuart Mill, Author of On Liberty

    803 Words  | 2 Pages

    Clarifying several points about Mill’s opinion on the principle of liberty will give supporting evidence that unless the harm to others can be averted, any reason for the limitation of liberty would not exist.

    Read More

  • Improving Society: Mill’s On Liberty and Marx’s Communist Manifesto

    1690 Words  | 4 Pages

    Society is built and run on social and moral obligations and while these two are closely related, both impact cultures around the world in different ways. Marx’s Communist Manifesto and Mill’s On Liberty demonstrate the relationship these obligations have with successful and unsuccessful social constructs. For the purposes of this paper, a moral obligation is a consideration of what is right¬¬¬ and wrong and can vary depending on pressures from external sources such as religion, while a social obligation is a responsibility the individual has to act to benefit the best interests of their class as well as supporting the stability between society and the individual. Marx and Mill differ greatly in their opinions on the role and effects of both moral and social obligation, with Marx claiming that social obligation is one’s responsibility to one’s class and Mill claiming that it is one’s responsibility to further the society by expressing one’s own ideas because doing so is key to preventing society from becoming stagnant. Both authors also have differing views on moral obligation since Marx also claims that morality as a whole is a social construction used to oppress the Proletariat and that it is therefore invalid, whereas Mill claims that moral obligation is one’s debt to oneself to express their opinion, since not doing so would leave one’s character undeveloped.

    Read More

  • The Communist Manifesto Essay

    1604 Words  | 4 Pages

    This is because it allowed for the emergence of the powerful Bourgeoise, "In one word, for exploitation, veiled by religious and political illusions, naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation.” As Marx explained , the Bourgeois exploited the Proletariats through the means of the long hours the laborers had to endure to receive very low wages, which maximized Bourgeois profits. Furthermore Marx claimed that "The conditions of Bourgeois society are too narrow to comprise the wealth created by them ...it has also called the into existence the men who are wield to those weapons -the modern workers.” The elites have created a very exclusive market, In order for the market to be placed effectively; the Bourgeoisie depended on the exploitation of others to remain wealthy. Marx perceived this tactic that allowed the bourgeoisie to overthrow their predecessors could be used against the bourgeoisie in the long term. Nevertheless, the way to abolish the Bourgeois was for the Proletariats to revolt against the factories in their areas and destroy the technology inside the factories, this allowed for the return of skilled

    Read More

  • John Stuart Mill Essay

    3246 Words  | 7 Pages

    ...ave the freedm to make mistakes and have discussions and debates in a healthy setting where others can learn from each other, and be able to raise their voice without having to be worried by the idea of being bullied. He strongly believed in having the freedom to develop your own personality and having the strength to make choices. Mills is only able to see progress in society if we enter a world of culture, free conformity, and harm. We must be given the right to free expression, freedom and the right to liberty without the fear of threat or being silenced. It’s because of these justifications that mill believes that mankind would not be justified in silencing an individual just like that one inidivdual, if given the power to do so, would not be justified in silencing all of mankind. Through these actions, we as humans will create the ultimate gaood for mankind.

    Read More

  • Social Rights And Freedom In John Mill's On Liberty

    813 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Mill’s On Liberty seeks to expound on how individuals and the society can exist as liberal entities without infringing on each other’s rights. Liberty is the condition of being free within the society, that is free from any form of restriction inflicted by authority. He argues that individual freedom is the basis of democracy where people exercise their own free will (Mill 2005). He also rejects the idea of social contract where individuals comply with society for them to gain social benefit (Mill 2005). It is generally thought that social development can only occur if certain constraints are placed on individual liberty. But the contrary is also true, if restriction are placed on people’s freedom, it becomes difficult for them to thrive

    Read More

  • Proletariat vs. Bourgeoisie in Karl Marx's The Communist Manifesto

    1064 Words  | 3 Pages

    Marx expressed many views about the over empowerment of the bourgeoisies in The Communists Manifesto. Marx believed that the working class was not getting paid what they deserved for the quality of work that they were producing. Marx thought that the all workers should be paid the same rather than by social position. For instance, Marx thought that a mineworker should be paid as much as a doctor. Marx states, ?The average price of w...

    Read More

  • Kuyper Against Marx

    1801 Words  | 4 Pages

    Marx states that the bourgeoisie not only took advantage of the proletariat through a horrible ratio of wages to labor, but also through other atrocities; he claims that it was common pract...

    Read More

  • Marx 's Theory Of Class Conflict

    1079 Words  | 3 Pages

    The capitalist is motivated by being rewarded wealth. Capital can only multiply by giving itself in return of labor power. This exchange is based on specified percentages. For example, after a long 12 hours of weaving the worker is only compensated two shillings. They attain residual wealth by taking advantage of workers. These workers are being compensated less than the value of their work. The workers endure great deals of exploitation. Workers put their labor power into effect to acquire means of survival which makes existence possible. The amount of commodities is based on the cost of life and the workers’ work ethic. Marx foreseen that class conflict between the bourgeoisie and proletariat would result in the collapsing of capitalism. The motivations of the capitalist and the workers create conflict because the capitalist attempt to uphold capitalism by advocating their principles, beliefs, and fabricated perceptions that prevent proletariats from rebelling. Once the two classes conflict with one another the cla...

    Read More

  • Kant vs. Mill: Human Rights and Utilitarianism

    1725 Words  | 4 Pages

    Fitzpatrick, J. R. (2006). John Stuart Mill's political philosophy: Balancing freedom and the collective good. London [u.a.: Continuum.

    Read More

  • Comparing John Locke, John Stuart Mill, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau

    2030 Words  | 5 Pages

    ...Mill does not implicitly trust or distrust man and therefore does not explicitly limit freedom, in fact he does define freedom in very liberal terms, however he does leave the potential for unlimited intervention into the personal freedoms of the individual by the state. This nullifies any freedoms or rights individuals are said to have because they subject to the whims and fancy of the state. All three beliefs regarding the nature of man and the purpose of the state are bound to their respective views regarding freedom, because one position perpetuates and demands a conclusion regarding another.

    Read More

  • Wage-Labor and Capital by Karl Marx

    679 Words  | 2 Pages

    Because of the conditions that the wage-workers worked in, Marx described it as exploitation. Marx felt that the wage workers were being exploited. The capitalist, also known as the bourgeoisie, were exploiting the wage workers, the proletariats, because of their cheap labor. They were essentially using them to create and increase their own profit. This in turn brought up alienation. Basically, alienation, also known as estrangement, is when a person is separated from their work, what they produce, themselves, and their environment. Marx’s theory of alienation was used to describe workers laboring under the capitalist society. The workers, also known as wage laborers, were commodities—things that are bought, sold, or exchanged in the market. They were selling their labor which means that they were being alienated from what they were doing.

    Read More

  • The Political Philosophy of Karl Marx

    2291 Words  | 5 Pages

    Karl Marx had very strong viewpoints in regards to capitalism, making him a great candidate for this assignment. People constantly debate over whether his ideologies held any grain of truth to them. I believe that although not everything Marx predicted in his writings has come true (yet), he was definitely right on about a lot of issues. As a matter of fact, his teachings can definitely be applied to today’s society. This paper will give a summary of Marx’s political philosophy. It will also discuss a contemporary issue: the current economic crisis— and how Marx believed racism played a crucial a role in it. Finally, through the lens he has developed, I will explain how Marx would analyze this issue and how one can argue that it spurred the current movement known as Occupy Wall Street.

    Read More

  • Socialism - The Best Economic System

    1465 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Under capitalism workers receive only a small fraction of the wealth that they alone produce, while the lion’s share goes to the capitalist owners and to the bankers, landlords, insurance companies, lawyers, politicians, and all the other parasites who live off the back of labor and perform no useful work.” (SLP). Thus, laborers are paid much less than the value of the labor that they contribute. As Karl Marx said, this is stealing, or exploitation of labor. The wages for these laborers are often too small to live off of.... ...

    Read More

  • A Critical Analysis of John Stuart Mill’s "On Liberty"

    1403 Words  | 3 Pages

    middle of paper ... ... Philosophers, such as John Stuart Mill, have debated the role and the extension of government in the people’s lives for centuries. Mill presents a clear and insightful argument, claiming that the government should not be concerned with the free will of the people unless explicit harm has been done to an individual. However, such ideals do not build a strong and lasting community. It is the role of the government to act in the best interests at all times through the prevention of harm and the encouragement of free thought.

    Read More

More about A Marxist Critique Of Karl Marx And John Mill's On Liberty

Open Document