The ideas of John Stuart Mill, explored in On Liberty, give much legitimization to the revolutions of 1848 in Europe. Mill describes human liberty as rooted in free thought and pursuits. For Mill, the individual is the locus of rights because the individual is the sovereign who can decide his / her own subjective appeal to freedom or rights. Personal opinion valued over the majority is another concept that Mill proposes. This advanced form of thinking allows individuals to take hold of their own political affairs and defines what an ideal politics ought to be because governmental coercion destroys the possibility of an individual appeal to liberty. Mill’s ideas of liberty rooted in individuality are almost necessary for any theoretical background for the 1848 revolution during June.
Alexis de Tocqueville, in the June Days, describes the insurrectionists as engaging in a political struggle against the coercive power of the French state. He compares it to a slave uprising, much in the same way that Mill describes the individual’s appeal to liberty. Tocqueville gives a glimpse into the way in which the revolutions of 1848 spread and why they failed in the end. Due to the radical character and the lack of a middle class support, Tocqueville proposes, the revolutionary insurrectionists’ goal was impossible from the start. Other liberal ideas are embodied in Guise ppe Mazzini’s oath in Young Italy. While not an appeal to further individualistic ideals of liberty, Mazzini’s oath offers hope for a nationalistic youth and a unified Italy.
The Essay on On Liberty Individuals Individual Society
J. S. Mill-On Liberty summary The main theme of on liberty was the individual. Everything else, society, education, government and so forth had their basis in the individuals rights to his own liberty. Noone, no member of society, government, even God, if he appeared before an individual, could in force his will upon him. Thats not to say that you couldnt change someones mind through discussions, ...
He gives conception of an Italy that could be rid of hatred and full love. However, there is a catch to his glorious promise. The chance for him to initiate violence in the form of insurrection and education demands the form of uprisings that the revolutions of 1848 brought forth. While liberal ideas were embodied in France and not in Italy, in Germany the idea of nationalism superseded the ideal individualism postulated by Mill. Carl Schurz identifies how he felt during the time when Louis Philippe had proclaimed a Republic in France. The possibility of a German nation and the spread of revolution to Germany made him excited.
Schurz describes how he felt when the German tricolor was once again raised and the prospect of a volksgeist once again rose in the minds of his peers and neighbors.
