The Study Of Mill's Theory About Liberalism

This article is divided into seven parts. Part I: Introduction. Mill has been regarded as a special person because he is a connector of classical liberalism and modern liberalism. He defended the freedom of the individual firmly and started thinking about how to improve the shortcomings of classical liberalism. His considerations about the protection of freedom played a decisive role at that time. Until now,we can also get many enlightenments ,which is very important in building the rule of law ,from his considerations.Part II: The main sources and the background of the times of Mill's theory about liberalism. On the other hand, in the 19th century, the economic development of the United Kingdom need to expand the scope of freedom,on the other hand, the working class began to call for vote right. Mill inherited and amended the utilitarianism, and on the Enlightenment of Tocqueville's tyranny of the majority of people, he began turning his attention to protect the freedom of minority from being suppressed by the majority.Part III:Mill's theory about liberalism is based on utilitarianism. By amending the utilitarianism of Jeremy Bentham, Mill made a more solid cornerstone of freedom and the relationship between liberty and utilitarian became more closely. He attached great importance to the protection of personal freedom, because he thought that individual freedom would promote the progress of individual and society,so as to increase the overall interests of society.Part IV:The connotations of Mill's theory about liberalism. Mill thought that freedom has three levels: consciousness freedom,preonality freedom and Collective freedom. The freedom of consciousness is the absolute freedom.It is the core of freedom. preonality freedom is the external performance of the consciousness freedom,it is a relative freedom.Collective freedom is composed of individual freedom, it is also a relatively freedom. With the development of democracy,the freedom of the individual was facing the new threat - "the tyranny of the majority".In order to prevent the interference of the the freedom of minority, It is necessary to draw a line between the freedom of the individual and society and this line is " the principle of freedom. "Part V: The design of the system of Represen-tative democracy is an important part of Mill's theory about liberalism. Represen-tative Government is the best type for protecting individual freedom and promoting personal progress. But it also has a collective mediocrity and class disadvantages of legislation. In order to maximize the benefits of Represen-tative Government and avoid its shortcomings,it is necessary to improve the parliamentary election, increase equality and directness of election.Part VI:The historical value and the revelation of Mill's theory about liberalism.Mill's liberal thinking is not only representative of the pinnacle of classical liberalism, but also the starting point of modern liberalism. His thinking about individual freedom,the principle of freedom and representative democracy-building has an important significance.Part VII: Conclusion. Mill's theory about liberalism is an important asset in the human history。The Interpretation of Mill's liberal thinking is help of solving the immediate problems in China.