On Liberty and Tyranny - Lessons from Tocqueville and Mill

FSU Events

A guest lecture by Professor Jeremy Jennings, author of "Travels with Tocqueville beyond America".

The Hall, the Art Workers' Guild

<h3>F﻿SU Lecture</h3><h1>O﻿n Liberty and Tyranny - Lessons from Alexis de Tocqueville and J.S. Mill</h1><h3>Guest lecture by Professor Jeremy Jennings </h3>D﻿ATE: Tuesday 3rd October 2023VENUE: The Hall, The Art Workers&#x27; Guild, 6 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AT TIME: 7.30pm (please arrive by 7.15pm).F﻿REE GLASS OF WINE ON ARRIVAL.Ticket-holders only - NO NEED TO PRINT TICKETS, WE&#x27;LL HAVE A LIST OF REGISTRANTS.IN-PERSON TICKETS: FSU members £10. Non-FSU Members £16. Aged 25 and under £12. Ticket plus donation £25. ZOOM OPTION: Free and exclusive to FSU members. Please register using the Zoom link supplied in emails from FSU Events. T﻿his event will be filmed and published at a later date.<h2>Understanding Tyranny and Liberty: Lessons from Alexis de Tocqueville and J.S. Mill </h2>Prior to the nineteenth century many writers were aware that autocratic states reduced individuals to silence and obedience through fear and the threat of punishment. When visiting the United States in the early 1830s, Alexis de Tocqueville noticed that in a democratic society individuals could be silenced by another means: the tyranny of the majority. Once the majority had made up its mind on a subject, Tocqueville observed, all discussion ceased. The first part of this lecture will look at the nature of this newly-discovered tyranny. John Stuart Mill, in a long review of Tocqueville&#x27;s Democracy in America, immediately saw the importance of this threat and, in the form of &quot;public opinion&quot;, it provided the background to the argument advanced in his classic text, On Liberty. The second part of the lecture will therefore consider the arguments advanced by Mill to protect the individual from threats to the liberty of thought and discussion. Crucially, Mill did not believe that being offended by someone else&#x27;s view constituted harm. The lecture will conclude by seeking to assess the relevance of the views of Tocqueville and Mill to debates about free speech today. About Professor Jennings Having received his doctorate from the University of Oxford, Jeremy taught at the University of Swansea (1979-1995), the University of Birmingham (1995-2005), and Queen Mary University of London (2005-2013). He served as Head of Department in Birmingham and at Queen Mary, was Vincent Wright Professor at the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques in Paris in 2006 and was also a visiting fellow at the University of Columbia Research Centre in Paris. Jeremy holds a visiting professorship with the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques. Jeremy&#x27;s research focuses upon the history of political thought in France. He recently co-edited the Cambridge History of French Thought and his latest book, <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-remarkable-prescience-of-alexis-de-tocqueville/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Travels with Tocqueville beyond America</a> (Harvard UP) was published in March 2023. A larger, long-term project is to write a history of the concept of liberty. Discussant and Chair: Toby Young, General Secretary of the Free Speech Union. Recommended readings: Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Volume 1, Part 2, Chapter 7, Of the Omnipotence of the Majority in the United States and Its Effects. <a href="https://xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper/DETOC/1_ch15.htm" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper/DETOC/1_ch15.htm</a> Introduction to On Liberty by J.S Mill <a href="https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/mill/liberty.pdf" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/mill/liberty.pdf </a>Tickets: Priority booking until 4th September for Gold and Founder Members of the Free Speech Union Free Speech Union Members £10 Members of the public £16 Ticket plus donation to the Free Speech Union £25 Aged 25 and under £12 T﻿he Free Speech Union is a non-partisan, mass membership public interest body that stands up for the speech rights of its members. Find out more <a href="https://freespeechunion.org/join/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">here</a>.

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On Liberty and Tyranny - Lessons from Tocqueville and Mill

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On Liberty and Tyranny - Lessons from Tocqueville and Mill

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