ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author shall show how argument applies to John Stuart Mill, in many ways liberalism's central figure. There are three possible separate senses in which individuals can be harmed: first, someone can be physically harmed; second, they can be emotionally harmed; and third, their essential interests as human beings can be harmed. Mill's thoughts on rights, harm and essential interests suggest that there is indeed a conception of the good underlying his thought, at least with respect to the well-being of individuals. Development consists in the inculcation of objective standards for judging the value of happiness. Teaching offers models that allow individuals to discover and appreciate what it is about species of pleasure that makes them worth pursuing. Liberty allows the greatest potential for human progress, hence liberty is claimed to be instrumentally better than any circumstances that inhibit human potential.
