Mill is somewhat neglected in philosophical circles, as is utilitarianism (his essay by that name remains the definitive "short" explanation), but no one should call his education complete without having read Mill's "On Liberty."
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Mill is somewhat neglected in philosophical circles, as is utilitarianism (his essay by that name remains the definitive "short" explanation), but no one should call his education complete without having read Mill's "On Liberty."
Mill to me seems to have more in common with Smith than with Bentham. Perhaps utilitarian is a good way to describe him, but he seems one of the central for runners of libertarianism.Quote:
Originally Posted by jgweed
His defence of complete freedom of ideas and speech, his mistrust of majority rule with its real potential for destroying minority (even of one) rights, are certainly in harmony with libertarian principles, but they also express ideas found in classical liberalism, which might find greater resonance with the ideas expressed in Utilitarianism.
One might find it difficult, at least in today's world, to reconcile Mill's urgent defence of the individual on the one hand, with any sort of realistic implementation of the utilitarian "greatest happiness for the greatest number" principle on the other. Both essays make strong cases for considering Mill's perspectives, and both are, I think, relevant to modern political discussions.
Translation is very important. Plato used a lot of technical Greek philosophical terms that have no exact equivalents in English. For example, The Republic is usually said to be about "justice", but the actual Greek word that is used (which I forget at the moment) is probably better translated by "righteousness."
This is not just a pedantic point, because many of the dialogues, especially the early ones (sometimes called the Socratic dialogues) revolve around a discussion of the best definition of a particular term, like "courage", etc.
For The Republic, I actually like Alan Bloom's edition, although I suppose it's controversial. But at least he makes an attempt at a literal translation. Avoid Cornford at all costs.
While translating Greek into English always presents a problem, in the case of the "Sokratic" dialogues, the reader is helped by the various definitions of the term proposed, and Sokrates' questioning of them.
These dialogues generally end in aporia; no final definition is reached, although many are rejected as inappropriate. At least in these early dialogues, it may very well be that Plato was more interested in showing examples of the Sokratic method than in providing philosophically satisfactory definitions of such words as "justice" or "courage."
As late as Symposium, where Sokrates narrates Diotima's words and tells his audience that he is persuaded of their truth (212b), his speech is interrupted by revelers at the door, the dialogue digresses into some personal stories about Sokrates, and ends with him discussing tragedy and comedy as the sun came up with a few who were barely awake or sober.