Mill believed silencing any voice or opinion, right or wrong, was a disservice; however, others argue that there is nothing wrong with restricting the voices of those going against the perceived greater good. Mill’s argument not only withstood this objection during his time period, but in current times as well.
“On Liberty” was written by John Stuart Mill where he explained why no opinion is truly justified without free speech. He explained how some individuals believe that silencing a single person or group can’t be that significant, but Mill disagreed with these individuals. He stressed that this censorship hurts society as a whole, the human race continuously, and even those who disagree with the current opinion or idea being expressed (Mill, 11). Silencing the opinion of that one person or group does not have an insignificant effect, it could cause repercussions that are detrimental to the entire course of human life. Mill also expressed the view that humans underestimate their own fallibility (11).
People admit they are fallible, but when they are put in a situation where they are pressed to question their views that they believe true they have a difficult time letting go. Humans are, therefore, too likely to trust the opinions they were raised to believe. Mill thought the way to combat these preconceived notions was to permit free speech because it allows us to challenge those opinions. Humans have the capacity to change their minds and decide that something they once believed in wholeheartedly is now false, but to do this the opinion in question must be questioned and combatted (13). If it still withstands those objections, then a person can be confident it is true for the time being; therefore, the only way to actually be large minded is to leave your opinions open to questioning.
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An opinion that opposes Mill’s, that was not only relevant back in his time, but is also very relevant in the current society is that, “there can’t be anything wrong in restraining bad men, and in prohibiting something that only bad men would want to do” (14). There are opinions and prejudices in this world that seem wrong to the majority of people but have withstood the test of time; prejudices that have been influenced by family and society. Examples of this are racism or sexism, but more specifically in modern times, hate speech. Many believe that those who want to voice these kinds of opinions are not useful to society and the lack of this kind of hate would be beneficial.
Mill refuted this opposition. One reason being because of the assumption of infallibility. He believed that no matter how positive someone is that a claim is false, if they inhibit the idea from being heard or defended then he is assuming infallibility (14). Mill claimed this is the reason so many generations of men committed mistakes that are now infamous in history (15). Throughout his essay, Mill used examples to show how the time in history plays a major role in what is considered to be right or wrong. Socrates was a well-known individual whom Mill uses as an example because during Socrates’ time there were many people in his society that claimed he was immoral and disagreed with the way he lived and taught (16). If anyone hears his name today, however, they almost always remember him for his inspirational knowledge and the way he sculpted philosophy throughout history. With this example, Mill demonstrated that you can’t suppress someone’s opinions or ideas because you think that they are immoral or detrimental to society.
I agree with Mill in this case because even though there have been innumerable people throughout history who have participated in racism or hate speech that still seem to be in the wrong, there have also been instances where people are viewed as bad but are actually honorable people with great ideas. I am very aware that in today’s society many things are hard to justify and are seemingly unmistakably immoral, but it would be immoral in itself if we were to take away the possibility of those ideas. Often new ideas turn into some of the greatest we’ve encountered in time, such as Socrates’ take on philosophy.
The main point being that ideas can change, they can end up being immoral when they used to be viewed highly and vice versa. The civil rights movement is an example that withstands the opposition to Mill’s opinion that occurred after his time in history. Many people during this time believed that African Americans were not equal to whites and that they were a disgrace to society; however, even though there are still racist people in existence today a lot more realize how false this is and promote equality. This demonstrates how little progress we would have made in history if no one was able to speak for the equality of everyone, no matter their skin color.
Another example is Hitler, who came to power and was thought to be a genius by many. Clearly, he isn’t seen as a positive example these days, and even at the time many saw his terrible side. Even though it isn’t a positive example, it’s still relevant because it demonstrates how ideas and views can change, so one should never shut down an opinion thinking that it will never be relevant and useful to society. Even more recently, hate speech protesting has become popular and is something that Mill never had the opportunity to address since it didn’t occur during his time in history. For example, there are people today who still fall subject to the beliefs of Hitler and will protest in public places, voicing their racist opinions. No matter how revolting this may seem, we must allow it because without free speech, there would have been many beneficial movements in history that would have never happened. African Americans, women, and any minority would be suppressed even more than currently in society.
Mill believed there was no excuse for silencing any voice. Whether you are voicing an opinion currently seen to be right or wrong, free speech is a necessity for everyone. Many will oppose that there is no harm in silencing those victimizing others, but that benefit does not outweigh the harm done from taking away the possibility of future good. I’m aware that there are a lot of negative things that come out of free speech, such as any kind of hate speech or negative language towards others, but without it we would never have the opportunities to improve life. It is something worth fighting for.
