Episode 183: Mill on Liberty (Part One)

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

• Episode: Episode 183: Mill on Liberty (Part One)
• Website: The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast
• Feed URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ThePartiallyExaminedLife
• Duration: 01:00:39
• Published: 2018-02-05 00:26

Discussing John Stewart Mill's On Liberty (1859). For Wes Alwan's summary of this book, go here).

If we disapprove of certain behaviors, when is it okay to prohibit them legally? What about just shaming people? Mill's "harm principle" says that we should permit anything (legally and socially) unless it harms other people. But what constitutes "harm"? And how can we discourage someone from, e.g., just being drunk all the time?

Mark, Wes, and Dylan bring this debate to current issues and explore some of the weirder aspects of Mill's view.