Lecture Notes on Mill, Rousseau, and Tocqueville

Flashcards based on lecture notes about Mill, Rousseau, and Tocqueville.

Principle of Non-Nuisance

The principle stating that one can do anything as long as they do not harm others.

Mill's View on Freedom of Expression

According to Mill, it is never legitimate for an authority to prohibit the expression of an opinion.

Connection between Freedom of Expression and Thought

Mill believed that limiting freedom of expression is equivalent to limiting freedom of thought.

Distinction Between Expression and Action

According to Mill, expressing an opinion is not the same as taking action.

Individualism (Mill)

Developing one's desires and needs to achieve happiness.

Socrate (Mill's View)

A figure who believed it is better to be a dissatisfied intellectual than a satisfied fool.

Rousseau's View on Societal Progress

He believed that the more society progresses, the more it deteriorates.

Rousseau's Thesis at the Academy of Dijon

The idea that sciences and arts corrupt and degrade society.

Du Contrat Social

Rousseau's work that faced controversy and was burned, leading him to flee France.

Natural Man (Rousseau)

Living with few constraints, promoting equality and truthfulness.

Civilized Man (Rousseau)

More security, protected rights, and community but with inequalities.

Inequalities (Rousseau)

Differences become problematic when they cause misfortune to one and favor to another.

Perfectibility (Rousseau)

The capacity to resist instincts and create desires and needs.

Love of Self and Pity (Rousseau)

Natural human sentiments, including self-love and compassion.

Amour Propre (Rousseau)

Desire to be more loved and admired than others; a non-natural sentiment born in society.

Private Property (Rousseau)

An institution arising from agreement among men that accelerates inequalities.

Aristocracy (Tocqueville)

Elite minority holds power.

Democracy (Tocqueville)

Power belongs to the people or the masses.

Democratic Social State (Tocqueville)

Mobile social classes, moral equality, equality before the law, and equal rights.

Aristocratic Social State (Tocqueville)

Fixed social classes, moral inequality, and unequal rights before the law.