PHILOS 3Q03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Jeremy Waldron, John Stuart Mill, Paternalism
27 Apr 2019
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Review the main ideas of the debate on constitutional entrenchment of rights and the debate between prof. jeremy waldron and prof. wil waluchow. Introduce the students to the ideas of john stuart mill. Present the connection between normative accounts of liberty and the law. Constitutional entrenchment is a way of marking the special (moral or political) importance of certain rights. The idea behind it is to protect certain things from the constant change of the political landscape. The fear is that the tyranny of the majority might prevail. For waldron, given the circumstances of politics the idea of setting certain rights as a fixed point presents problems for democratic societies. A characteristic of democracies is that there is deep disagreement. John stuart mill: the purpose of his essay. The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.
