Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T14:31:14.928Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Between Autonomy and State Regulation: J.S. Mill's Elastic Paternalism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 October 2012

Raphael Cohen-Almagor
Raphael Cohen-Almagor*
Affiliation:
University of Hull
*
[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper analyses J.S. Mill's theory on the relationships between individual autonomy and State powers. It will be argued that there is a significant discrepancy between Mill's general liberal statements aimed to secure individual largest possible autonomy and the specific examples which provide the government with quite wide latitude for interference in the public and private spheres. The paper outlines the boundaries of government interference in the Millian theory. Subsequently it describes Mill's elastic paternalism designed to prevent people from inflicting harm upon others as well as upon themselves, from soft paternalism on issues like compulsory education to hard paternalism on very private matters such as marriage, having children, and divorce by consent.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy , Volume 87 , Issue 4 , October 2012 , pp. 557 - 582
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Institute of Philosophy 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

2 Freeden, Michael, The New Liberalism (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978), 171Google Scholar.

3 Dworkin, Ronald, ‘Liberalism’, in A Matter of Principle (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985), 181–204Google Scholar.

4 Hobhouse, L.T., Liberalism (London: Oxford University Press, 1945), 228Google Scholar. Hobhouse maintained that there is no thought except in the mind of an individual thinker, and there is no such thing as a unitary social mind or will: only individuals, not society, have a distinct personality.

5 A conception of the good comprises a basic part of our over-all moral scheme and that it is public in the sense that it is something one advances as good for others as well as oneself, consequently one would want others to hold a certain conception for their own sake. For further discussion on this issue, see Rawls, John, ‘The Priority of Right and Ideas of the Good’, Philosophy & Public Affairs 17 (4) (1988), 251–276Google Scholar; Cohen-Almagor, R., ‘Between Neutrality and Perfectionism’, Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence VII (2) (1994), 217–236CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

6 J.S. Mill, On Liberty, 68. All references to On Liberty and to Representative Government are to the Everyman's edition of Utilitarianism, Liberty and Representative Government (London: J.M. Dent., 1948).

7 Ibid.

8 Ibid.

9 J.S. Mill, On Liberty, 132.

10 J.S. Mill, On Liberty, 140.

11 Ibid., 164.

12 Ibid. For further discussion, see Cohen-Almagor, R., ‘Ends and Means in J.S. Mill's Utilitarian Theory’, The Anglo-American Law Review 26(2) (1997), 141–174Google Scholar.

13 Mill, J.S., ‘On Genius’, in Robson, John M. and Stillinger, Jack (eds.), The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume I – Autobiography and Literary Essays (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1981)Google Scholar, http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=242&Itemid=28

14 J.S. Mill, Representative Government, 207; idem, ‘Civilization’, in Dissertations and Discussions (N.Y.: Haskell House Publishers, 1973), Vol. I, 201Google Scholar.

15 Mill, On Liberty, 165. In Principles of Political Economy (London: Longmans, Green, Reader and Dyer, 1869)Google Scholar, Bk. V, Mill wrote: ‘Every additional function undertaken by the government, is a fresh occupation imposed upon a body already overcharged with duties. A natural consequence is that most things are ill done.’ (570)

16 J.S. Mill, On Liberty, 164.

17 Ibid., 73.

18 Ibid., 132.

19 Ibid., 150.

20 J.S. Mill, Principles of Political Economy, 568.

21 Ibid., 571.

22 J.S. Mill, Principles of Political Economy, 577.

23 J.S. Mill, Principles of Political Economy, 482, 577, 578, 564–566, 580–581, 583, 585. Some of these cases are mentioned also in ‘Coleridge’, Dissertations and Discussions (N.Y.: Haskell House Publishers, 1973), I, 454.Google Scholar and in ‘Thornton on Labour and Its Claims’, in Williams, G.L. (ed.) J.S. Mill on Politics and Society (Glasgow: Fontana, 1976), 303–334Google Scholar.

24 J.S. Mill, Principles of Political Economy, 589–590. See also Robson, John M., The Improvement of Mankind (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1968), 217Google Scholar.

25 Mill, J.S., ‘The Grounds and Limits of the Laissez-Faire or Non-Interference Principle’, in Fletcher, Ronald (ed.), John Stuart Mill (London: Michael Joseph, 1971), 329Google Scholar.

26 J.S. Mill, Principles of Political Economy, Bk. V, 482, 581, 589.

27 Ibid., 590.

28 Ibid.

29 J.S. Mill, Principles of Political Economy, Bk. V, 575.

30 Ibid., 577.

31 West, G.C., ‘Liberty and Education: J.S. Mill's Dilemma’, Philosophy 40 (April 1965), 129–142CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

32 Mill, J.S., Representative Government and ‘Thoughts on Parliamentary Reform’, in Dissertations and Discussions (London: Longmans, Green, Reader & Dyer, 1859), Vol. III, 1–46Google Scholar.

33 Mill, J.S., ‘The Subjection of Women’, in Three Essays (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975), 427–548Google Scholar.

34 J.S. Mill, On Liberty, 162. See also Ibid., 160.

35 Dyslexia is a common type of learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in the reading and spelling of words. http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Dyslexia/Pages/Introduction.aspx; http://www.easyreadsystem.com/index/62.php; http://www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk/

36 J.S. Mill, Principles of Political Economy, Bk.V, 481. In On Liberty, Mill supported his argument by Humboldt's writings, reminding of the latter's statement that engagements which involved personal relations or services should never be legally binding beyond a limited duration of time, and that ‘the most important of these engagements, marriage... should require nothing more than the declared will of either party to dissolve it’ (158).

37 J.S. Mill, Principles of Political Economy, Bk.V, 481. For further discussion, see Williams, G.L., ‘Mill's Principle of Liberty’, Political Studies 24 (1976), 132–140CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Wollheim, Richard, ‘John Stuart Mill and the Limits of State Action’, Social Research 40 (1) (1973), 1–30Google Scholar; Urbinati, Nadia and Zakaras, Alex (eds.), J.S. Mill's Political Thought: A Bicentennial Reassessment (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

38 J.S. Mill, On Liberty, 158. For further discussion, see Arneson, R.J., ‘Mill versus Paternalism’, Ethics 90 (July 1980), 470–489CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Hodson, John D., ‘Mill, Paternalism and Slavery’, Analysis 41 (1981), 60–62CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

39 Hamilton, Mary Agnes, John Stuart Mill (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1933), 76Google Scholar; Gray, John, Mill on Liberty: A Defence (London: Routledge and Paul, 1983), 94CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

40 J.S. Mill, ‘The Grounds and Limits of the Laissez-Faire or Non-Interference Principle’, 322.

41 Dworkin, Ronald, Life's Dominion (NY: Knopf, 1993)Google Scholar.

42 Cohen-Almagor, R., The Right to Die with Dignity (Piscataway, NJ.: Rutgers University Press, 2001), chap. 5Google Scholar.

43 Mill, J.S., A System of Logic (London: Longmans, Green, 1961)Google Scholar, VI, II; Mill, J.S., The Logic of the Moral Sciences (London: Duckworth, 1987)Google Scholar. For further discussion, see Ryan, Alan, John Stuart Mill (NY: Pantheom Books, 1970), 106–107, 173Google Scholar.

44 J.S. Mill, On Liberty, 163.

45 Kamm, Josephine, John Stuart Mill in Love (London: Gordon & Cremonesi, 1977), 22–23Google Scholar; Jacobs, Jo Ellen, The Voice of Harriet Taylor Mill (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002), 13Google Scholar.

46 Mill, J.S., Autobiography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971)Google Scholar.

47 See the comprehensive work of Michael St. Packe, John, The Life of John Stuart Mill (London: Secker & Warburg, 1954), Book 1, 56–58Google Scholar. See also Halliday, R.J., John Stuart Mill (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1976)Google Scholar; Thomas, William, Mill (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985)Google Scholar; Capaldi, Nicholas, John Stuart Mill: A Biography (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and Cohen-Almagor, R., ‘John Stuart Mill’, in Christians, Clifford G. and Merrill, John C. (eds.) Ethical Communication: Five Moral Stances in Human Dialogue (Columbia, MO.: University of Missouri Press, 2009), 25–32Google Scholar.

48 J.S. Mill, On Liberty, 163. For discussion on Harriet Taylor's views on marriage as related to J.S. Mill's views, see Jacobs, Jo Ellen, The Voice of Harriet Taylor Mill, 21–23Google Scholar.

49 McCloskey, H.J., John Stuart Mill: A Critical Study (London: Macmillan, 1971), 111CrossRefGoogle Scholar. In On Marriage, Mill, however, objected to compelling a woman to remain in marriage if the perpetual contract between her and the husband enslaves the woman to her master. See http://oll.libertyfund.org/readinglists/print/177-john_stuart_mill_s_and_harriet_taylor_s_writings_on_women

50 J.S. Mill, On Liberty, 150.

51 Robson, John M., The Improvement of Mankind (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1968), 261Google Scholar. For discussion on utilitarianism and the classical economists – Adam Smith, Malthus and Ricardo – see Plamenatz, John, The English Utilitarians (Oxford: Blackwell, 1966), 110–121Google Scholar.

52 J.S. Mill, On Liberty, 138.

53 Ibid. Mill repeated this reasoning in p. 153. For further analysis, see Brown, D.G., ‘Mill on Harm to Others' Interests’, Political Studies 26 (1978), 395–399CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

54 J.S. Mill, On Liberty, 153. For discussion on the Harm and Offence Principles, see Cohen-Almagor, R., ‘Harm Principle, Offence Principle, and the Skokie Affair’, Political Studies 41 (3) (1993): 453–470CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Sumner, L.W., ‘Should Hate Speech Be Free Speech? John Stuart Mill and the Limits of Tolerance’, in Cohen-Almagor, R. (ed.), Liberal Democracy and the Limits of Tolerance (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000), 133–150Google Scholar.

55 J.S. Mill, On Liberty, 133.

56 Cf Beauchamp, T.L., ‘Medical Paternalism, Voluntariness, and Comprehension’, in Howie, J. (ed.), Ethical Principles for Social Policy (Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1983)Google Scholar. See also Hart, H.L.A., Law, Liberty and Morality (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963)Google Scholar; Dworkin, G., ‘Paternalism’, The Monist 56 (1972), 64–84CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Dworkin, G., ‘Moral Paternalism’, Law and Philosophy 24 (3) (May 2005), 305–319CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Sunstein, Cass and Thaler, Richard, ‘Libertarian Paternalism Is Not an Oxymoron’, The University of Chicago Law Review 70 (2003), 1166–1187CrossRefGoogle Scholar; ‘Paternalism’, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/paternalism/.

57 For critic of Mill's Truth Principle, see Cohen-Almagor, R., ‘Why Tolerate? Reflections on the Millian Truth Principle’, Philosophia 25, Nos. 1–4 (1997), 131–152CrossRefGoogle Scholar; O'Rourke, K.C., John Stuart Mill and Freedom of Expression: The Genesis of a Theory (London and NY: Routledge, 2001)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

58 Feinberg, Joel, ‘Legal Paternalism’, Canadian Journal of Philosophy I (1971), 105–124CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

59 J.S. Mill, On Liberty, 151–152. See also Miller, Dale E., J.S. Mill (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2010), 153Google Scholar.

60 J.S. Mill, On Liberty, 152–153.

61 Ibid., 151.

62 Ibid., 133. For further discussion, see Ten, C.L., ‘Mill on Self-Regarding Actions’, Philosophy 43 (1968), 29–37CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Wollheim, Richard, ‘John Stuart Mill and Isaiah Berlin’, in Ryan, Alan (ed.), The Idea of Freedom (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979), 253–269Google Scholar.

63 J.S. Mill, Principles of Political Economy, 459.

64 Ibid. Although Mill did not use the term ‘autonomy’, he certainly had in mind a concept that relates to the ability to reflect upon beliefs and actions, and the ability to form an idea regarding them, so as to decide the way in which to lead a life.

65 Mill, J.S., ‘Appendix’, in Dissertations and Discussions, Vol. I, 470Google Scholar. See also J.S. Mill, ‘On Genius’, 329–339, http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=242&chapter=7739&layout=html&Itemid=27.

66 Cowling, Maurice, Mill and Liberalism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1963), 104Google Scholar. For further discussion, see Martin, Rex, ‘A Defence of Mill's Qualitative Hedonism’, Philosophy 47 (1972), 140–151CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Ladenson, Robert F., ‘Mill's Conception of Individuality’, Social Theory and Practice 4 (2) (1977), 167–182CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

67 Cowling, Ibid., 36.

68 See the data introduced by Karin Berard Anderson regarding the efficiency of seat-belts in securing lives, and the patterns of the use of safety belts prior to and after the enforcement of law. Use and Effects of Seat Belts in 21 Countries (Oslo: Inst. of Transport Economics, 1978)Google Scholar; Fhaner, Gunilla and Hane, Monica, Seat Belts: Relations between Belief, Attitude and Use (The Swedish Road Safety Office, February 1973)Google Scholar; Evans, L., ‘The Effectiveness of Safety Belts in Preventing Fatalities’, Accid Anal Prev. 18 (3) (June 1986), 229–241CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed; Cohen, Alma and Einav, Liran, ‘The Effects of Mandatory Seat Belt Laws on Driving Behavior and Traffic Fatalities’, The Review of Economics and Statistics 85 (4) (November 2003), 828–843CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Rocco Pendola, ‘The Effects of Wearing Seat Belts’, eHow (2010), http://www.ehow.com/list_6374409_effects-wearing-seat-belts.html

69 Feminists argue that pornography undermines the status of women in society and degrades them. Liberals insist on having a substantive proof that tangible harm was inflicted on an individual to prohibit such speech. All agree that no person should be coerced to participate or watch pornography. See the debate between Altman, Andrew, ‘The Right to Get Turned On: Pornography, Autonomy, Equality’, in Cohen, Andrew I. and Wellman, Christopher Heath (eds.), Applied Ethics (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005), 223–235Google Scholar, and Susan J. Brison, ‘“The Price We Pay”? Pornography and Harm’, in the same volume, 236–250. See also Dworkin, Ronald, ‘Do We Have A Right to Pornography?’, in A Matter of Principle (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986), 335–372Google Scholar.

70 For further discussion on the issue of pornography, see Scanlon, T.M., ‘Freedom of Expression and Categories of Expression’, University of Pittsburgh Law Review 40(3) (1979)Google Scholar, section V, and Dyzenhaus, David, ‘John Stuart Mill and the Harm of Pornography’, Ethics 102(3) (1992), 534–551CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

71 J.S. Mill, On Liberty, 155.

72 J.S. Mill, On Liberty, 136.

73 J.S. Mill, On Liberty, 72.

74 Ibid., 72–73.

75 See, for instance, Fried, Albert, McCarthyism, The Great American Red Scare (NY: Oxford University Press, 1996)Google Scholar; Schreker, Ellen W., The Age of McCarthyism (Bedford: St. Martin's, 2001)Google Scholar; Oshinsky, David M., A Conspiracy So Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy (NY: Oxford University Press, 2005)Google Scholar.