Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Mill's idea of freedom
In class last week we discussed Mill's idea of freedom. Basically his idea was that everyone can do whatever they want as long as no one else gets hurt. We discussed various scenarios in class and decided if Mill was for or against it. One scenario we had the most debate on was if a man is abusing his wife but apologizes afterwards is it okay? The woman still loves and forgives him, and if she does not want to leave doesn't she have the right to stay? I think that Mill would have to agree at this point that the woman is making a decision here that is harming herself. The best solution would have to be that the man be removed from their home and even put in prison because he is harming her. At this stage the woman is not fit to make the decision on her own, and I think Mill would have to agree in this instance.
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I don't think that the husband should just go to prison for abusing his wife. Obviously, there is a reason he is abusing his wife. He could have been abused as a child, or he saw his father abuse his mother, or he has anger issues that he doesn't know how to deal with. It could be anything. But i don't think the solution would be to put him in jail and forget about him. If he abuses his wife, he'll abuse others too. He should talk to a psychiatrist and find the root of his problem and work toward making it better. Maybe he could be removed from his wife for that period that he is correcting his behavior.
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