How Did John Stuart Mill Contribute To Modern Liberalism

Liberalism could be defined as the opposite of the unlimited power that a king would enjoyed for example in the17th century. The kings used to have absolute power by which they decided the fate of all their peasants, no matter they agree or not. In this unlimited power, the opinion of an individual person an his independence was nor consider at, neither it was the will of the community, the only will that was satisfied was the king's will, even if the community was totally hurt by the king's will. Liberalism is also divided in two branches, liberal liberalism and modern liberalism.

The modern liberalism stresses the importance of the liberty of each individual limiting the power of the government as much as possible while the modern liberalism
He was also in favor of the suffrage for both male and female, and he also thought that women should be able to do every kind of work in order to enjoy of a total equality "Whit regard to the fitness of women, not only to participate in elections, but themselves to hold offices or practise professions involving important public responsibilities" (The subjection of the Women, Sources, 199). John Stuart Mill anticipates to the modern liberalism if we analyze his book "On Liberty" in which he explains that government have to have power over the community to guaranty the liberty of the community. "Power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community against his will to prevent harm to others"(On Liberty, sources 139). So, we can see in this point how John Stuart Mill begins thinking as a modern liberalism, seeing as necessary the power of the government over the community composed by individuals in order to guaranty
John Stuart Mill, one of the most important men in the liberalism, clearly defends this point in his book "On Liberty", in which he advocates the liberty of tastes as long as it doesn't hurt anybody in the society: "Secondly, the principle requires liberty of tastes and pursuits of framing the plan of our life to suit our own character, of doing as we like, subject to such consequences as may follow, without impediment from our fellow creatures, so long as what we do does not harm them, even though they should think our conduct foolish, perverse, or wrong"(Sources,140). So, Mill, as all the liberal thinkers, advocated the liberty of choice in all kind of personal maters, such political tendency, religion, and even sexual tendency; of course, as long as it doesn't hurt anybody. The issue of the homosexuality in the 19th and in the beginning of the 20th century wasn't as accepted as in the end or even in the middle of the 20th century. It may be something that nobody should want to talk or write about and neither anybody would recognize to be homosexual in the case that he or she were. But, in books like for example "Maurice", a novel about two male students that fall in love with each other, written in 1913 by E.M. Forester, we can see how this issue began to be more accepted by the fact that people began writing about this topic.