John Stuart Mill, author of the chapter “Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion” in the philosophical work On Liberty, outlines four main arguments of why society is impacted by the silencing of others’ opinions. Wayne Fuller, author of the chapter “Diffusion of Knowledge” in the work The American Mail: Englarger of the Common Life,” presents ideas that Mill would be able to apply his ideas to.
Mill’s first argument is that suppressed opinion has the possibility of being true, which is why no idea can be dismissed. Mill’s second argument is that people will not fully understand their own opinion if it is not debated. He claims in paragraph 21 that even if popular opinion is true, if it is not debated, it becomes “dead dogma.” This is because a person needs to be able to respond appropriately to objections about their…
He also presents the idea that “whatever the risks, the people must be informed, especially on those matters relating to the government” (110). Mill would first agree that people must be informed and ideas must not be suppressed due to those ideas potentially being true. However, Mill would also be concerned with Fuller’s statement “whatever the risks.” This is because Mill emphasizes the idea that opinion needs to be debated. When people are being given information through newspapers or other resources as Fuller uses as examples, particularly those containing political opinion, it is a one-sided conversation. People’s ideas may not be 100% true because they may not understand their opinion whole-heartedly, or the opinion is weakened without a discussion taking place. As said in Mill’s third point, a misunderstanding of the opinion can lead to serious mistakes. This was evident in Fuller’s chapter when the government officials did not want to give up their franking privileges, and postal monetary deficits were created…
