A Rhetorical Analysis of On Liberty by John Stuart Mill

A Rhetorical Analysis of On Liberty John Stuart Mill, an English philosopher and a political economist, had an important part in forming liberal thought in the 19th century. Mill published his best-known work, _On Liberty,_ in 1859. This foundational book discusses the concept of liberty. It talks about the nature and the limits of the power performed by society over an individual. The book also deals with the freedom of people to engage in whatever they wish as long as it does not harm other persons. In _On Liberty,_ Mill employs a combination of formal and informal tones by developing complex ideas through many levels of meanings in form of clear expressions. Mills use of contrasting metaphors in the paragraphs about the way human†¦show more content†¦The ways of reply to a change of an individual, a tree, and a machine have a common point. If the environment changes in good way, the development may occur better and easier. Otherwise, the change may damage their growth. However, when this happens, an individual and a tree, with freedom to act, may make an adaptation in order not to deviate too much from proper development; but a machine cannot make any adjustment because of its impassiveness. In that sense, although the growth of all the subjects depend on various factors, the growth of a man and a tree differ from that of a machine because of their ability to act freely and cannot be suppressed by anything. The use of these metaphors helps the audience to draw analogie s from prior knowledge to the arguments of Mill. Also, the prior knowledge aids the essay in being accessible to the non-specialists. The tree metaphor also refers to the role of customs in the growth of an individual. Mill gives three reasons why customs may not be adequate to be employed by an individual: first, the interpretation of the customs may not be right; second, his circumstances may be uncustomary to the customs; and third, the customs may not have any role in educating him about the qualities of being human. Therefore, under different circumstances, the customs may or may not be adequate to be learnt, like the circumstances and nutrients may or may not be sufficientShow MoreRelatedRethinking Mercantalism Essay15042 Words   |  61 Pageseconomy and empire, the Warwick eighteenth-century seminar, the participants in the Yale/NYU workshop on political economy and empire, Amanda Behm, Maxine Berg, Trevor Burnard, Mara Caden, Megan Cherry, Justin duRivage, Avner Offer, Jim Robinson, John Shovlin, Abby Swingen, James Vaughn, and Carl Wennerlind for their comments on this article. 1 Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, ed. R. H. Campbell, A. S. Skinner, and W. B. Todd (Indianapolis, Ind., 1981)Read MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesSouthern Life Lisa M. Fine, The Story of Reo Joe: Work, Kin, and Community in Autotown, U.S.A. Van Gosse and Richard Moser, eds., The World the Sixties Made: Politics and Culture in Recent America Joanne Meyerowitz, ed., History and September 11th John McMillian and Paul Buhle, eds., The New Left Revisited David M. Scobey, Empire City: The Making and Meaning of the New York City Landscape Gerda Lerner, Fireweed: A Political Autobiography Allida M. Black, ed., Modern American Queer History EricRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 PagesLine 58 Understanding and Appreciating Individual Differences Important Areas of Self-Awareness 61 Emotional Intelligence 62 Values 65 Ethical Decision Making and Values 72 Cognitive Style 74 Attitudes Toward Change 76 Core Self-Evaluation 79 SKILL ANALYSIS 84 Cases Involving Self-Awareness 84 Communist Prison Camp 84 Computerized Exam 85 Decision Dilemmas 86 SKILL PRACTICE 89 Exercises for Improving Self-Awareness Through Self-Disclosure 89 Through the Looking Glass 89 Diagnosing Managerial Characteristics