Defending liberty by John Stuart Mill through his book “On Liberty”

Abstract

The main reason for preparing this study is searching in liberty concept and trying to identify John Stuart Mill’s motives in describing this term, and his vision on the aspects of liberty governed by the authority of law or social customs and traditions, and aspects that are not supposed to be subject to any authority or external factors. The researcher used the historical research approach, to achieve the study’s main target; in which he concluded that John Stuart’s Mill's flexibility with the principles and rules of utilitarianism contributed to the development of his ideas about liberty and enabled him to formulate them in line with the political, economic and social developments which he had experienced. John Steuart’s private experience impact in presenting the liberty issues has been shown in this study through his book "On Liberty", besides his influence by his contemporaries, thoughts and their contributions in writing about freedom and their philosophical vision. John Stuart Mill stresses that laws, legislation, and limits of authority must be dealt with, organized, and employed in all areas that can lead to the increase of the individual’s liberty for an individual in the society in which he lives.