Philosophical Ideas of J. S. Mills - Essay Example

It tries to interpret everything and anything in the wider empirical consideration of our experiences of conscious and unconscious manifestations of our being. It, therefore, can be said that each of us, follows a definite philosophy that guides our actions and our efforts to gain knowledge and accordingly base our judgments of the people or events. J. S. Mills, an eminent philosopher, In his book ‘On liberty’ has extensively discoursed on the liberty of thought and discussion and has tried to explain its wider meaning concerning the control exerted by society on an individual.

Through the ages, liberty and freedom of choice have been the most important issue for the rulers and the community at large. The rulers and people in authority have been using their power to exert control over the community and individuals. Mills has argued that no government or individual has the right to suppress the independent thought of other individuals largely because the new thoughts are the catalyst to the changes, which are part and parcel of human existence. The extent of the influence of their control on the liberty of individuals is the most vital aspect of the interplay of human relationships within society. The governmental and constitutional paradigms of liberty are important factors in the larger interests of society. But there is some intrinsic and unarticulated social control over the individuals within the society, which may be defined by the doctrines of the time and religion.

According to Mils ‘for a long time past, the chief mischief of the legal penalties is that they strengthen the social stigma’ (Mills, chapter 1). While to some extent, one can agree that excess control does corrode moral and ethical values, some control is necessary to maintain law and order within the social fabric. But Mill's theory on the liberty of thought and discussion is highly relevant to the issue of teaching the theory of evolution and the theory of intelligent design in public schools. Mills has been very vocal on the issue of liberty of thought because he believed that it promotes the conception and inception of new ideas which are an intrinsic part of development, which every society undergoes through time. ‘No one can be a great thinker who does not recognize, that as a thinker it is his first duty to follow his intellect to whatever conclusions it may lead... we can expect no fresh start until we again assert our mental freedom’ (Mills, Chapter 2).

In recent times, the issue of teaching evolution and intelligent design has become controversial primarily because of the conservative nature of the often unarticulated socio-religious controls which are not rationalized within the wider perspective of the advancing time. The revolutionary views of Mills on the vital issue of liberty of thought and discussion are an essential part of changing paradigms of social control and hence relevant to the issue of teaching the theory of evolution and intelligent design.