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Similarities Between On Liberty And Passive Tolerance

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John Stuart Mill’s essay, “On Liberty,” and Herbert Marcuse’s “Repressive Tolerance” each argue the value of tolerance in society. Their arguments converge in the belief that the majoritarian argument can be harmful, but diverge in their ideas about the value of free discussion of opinions. As a whole, Mill and Marcuse have contradictory arguments about the value of tolerance. Mill and Marcuse each assert that the opinions of a society 's majority can be repressive and harmful. According to Mill, the individual’s welfare suffers when a majority opinion is prefered. (Marcuse, 1). Each theorist agrees that a majority holds a sort of destructive power, be it over an individual or the opposing minority group. However, Mill and Marcuse disagree

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