Abstract:
John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty is typically regarded as the key defense of free discussion in nineteenth-century Europe, and thus it remains relevant to contemporary concerns about free speech. It is also often seen as the fruit of its author’s secular mindset, suggesting a substantive link between that mindset and free discussion. This article examines that connection in light of the vigorous defense of free speech offered by the Calvinist theologian and later Dutch prime minister Abraham Kuyper. Rather than emphasizing the secular nature of Mill’s thought, our discussion highlights the progressive nature of his religious views and their connection to his stance on free discussion. Kuyper’s writings, on the other hand, show not only that among Mill’s contemporaries this freedom was often grounded in traditional Christian arguments, but also a Tocquevillian concern about the potential superficiality of such freedom in the absence of a robust associational life. While Mill will thus help us look at Kuyper’s thought in a broader European context, Kuyper reminds us of the limits of the still dominant Millian outlook.
Keywords:
Abraham Kuyper, John Stuart Mill, Alexis de Tocqueville, intellectual freedom, pluralism
How to cite:
Svensson, Manfred. “Religion, Progress, and Intellectual Freedom: John Stuart Mill, Abraham Kuyper, and the Shape of a Plural Society.” Eidos. A Journal for Philosophy of Culture 10, no. 1 (2026): 158-183. https://doi.org/10.14394/eidos.jpc.2026.0008.
Author:
Manfred Svensson
Department of Philosophy, Universidad de los Andes
Monseñor Álvaro del Portillo 12.455, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9896-1752
msvensson@uandes.cl
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