John Wilkes: A journalist and advocate in civil liberties
- He wrote an essay on women which was considered the dirtiest poem in the english language.
- He was forced into excile several times and was elected a member of parliament three times from prison as well as once being mayor of London.
- He was part of the Hellfire Club, who engaged in activities such as drinking, drugs and orgies, doing whatever they wanted.
- Wilkes also put forward the first ever bill suggesting universal male suffrage in 1775.
- He set up "The North Briton", a newspaper aimed to attack his rival newspaper, "The Briton" set up by the Prime Minister. It mostly contained attacks on the government as well as scandalous rumours and insults, most memorably calling the secretary of state, "weak, passionate and insolent." Wilke's lack of respect and consideration for people caused the King to become increasingly angry at the paper and he threatened them with lawsuits, prosecutions and bribes. Yet he still could not prove the author of the paper.
- Just when it was thought his paper could not become any more scandalous, Wilkes publicly called the King a liar in his paper and a s a result a general warrant was issued and Wilkes along with 49 others were arrested. Wilkes sued the government for invasion of provacy and false arrest, winning and establishing those rights for the first time.
- Despite this, the governement prosecuted him and expelled him from the house of commons, he fled to France, but was arrested on his return. He campaigned and re-won his seat in in the House of Commons from prison, yet he was voted incapable of being elected. However, not long after he was elected by City Officers as Alderman and Mayor of London.
Mary Wollstonecraft:
- Had a vey difficult eary life, her father was drunken and violent, this being the reason her family's social status declined.
- Forced to work as a governess in Ireland and she thus became obsessed with education. In 1787 was her first publication of, 'Thoughts on the Education of Daughters'.
- She argued that education given to women was superficial and promoted obsession with appearance. Therefore, sewing and singing did not equip them with independence, thought and judgement.
- She believed that we are born with a blank slate and that we are shaped by education and we can therefore, be made into responsible, rational citizens. This is also what Locke's belief and she clearly supports this.
- After having finished in Ireland, she returned to London and set up a school.
- She became a rational dissenter, (someone who applies rationality to religion) and became a utilitarian.
- Wollstonecraft was fascinated by Rousseau as she liked him anti-elitisim and his egalitarianism.
- Wollstonecraft is best known for her, "Vindiction on the Right of Women", writing mainly for the middle class women she writes about how women accept the ascribed roles they are given and are therefore, seen as inferior to men as they do not have such a good education. Wollstonecraft heavily suggests that men and women shlould just be human beings and become equal and of the same social status.
- Wollstonecraft herself, had a failed affair with a married man she was completely infatuated with, however, he would not leave his wife for her which lead to several failed suicide attempts. Mary later married, Goodwin whom she had a child with, but she passed away after the birth. Goodwin continued to write her biography, which exposed many truths about her which made her very unpopular until the end of the 19th Century.
John Stuart Mill:
- Mill's Grandfather was Jeremy Bentham and his Father, James Mill. He had a very early education and was reading Greek at 3 years old, along with learning English and Latin. Yet did not learn to tie his own shoe laces until he was 8.
- He was jailed at the age of 17, when he was found distributing literature on contraception and he was threatened with death over his prosecution of Govenor Eyre.
- Mills also introduced the first bill to gove women the right to vote.
- Mills had a nervous breakdown at the age of 20, but he was brought back to reality when he began reading the works of well known poet, William Wordsworth.
- One of Mill's strongest beliefs was that of freedom of speech, he claimed, "All silencing of opinion is an assumption of infallibility." He believed it was necessary to have freedom of speech and express your opinions if you were to have any personal freedom.
- However, this belief raises the question of what if people hold opinions which we fins distasteful?
Liberty:
- Began as an attempt to limit the powers of government through bills of rights of extention of franchise. It located authoruty in the individual. John Locke is a good example.
- Liberals believe in the Laissez Faire attitude to economics, favouring free trade and provate property, for example Adam Smith.
- Furthermore, they prize freedom over equality and favour equality of opprtunity over egalitarianism.
- It was believed that education played a big part as this is how we are rewarded and as well as this personal freedom is also important as people are encouraged to express therr own views and live their lives differently.
Utilitarianism:
- Utilitarianism is the idea of, "The greatest good for the greatest number", meaning the promotion of the general social welfare is the good for both society as well as individuals. Everyone's happiness matters.
- Mill suggested the heirachy of pleasures and always wanted to produce the best situations and outcomes, often called the "cold logic machime".
- However, this theory is very similiar to hedonism.