La libertà come progetto di pace: un dialogo con John Stuart Mill

Abstract

This paper proposes a reading of John Stuart Mill’s philosophy of liberty as a genuine project of peace. Far from conceiving peace merely as the absence of war, Mill understands it as a condition grounded in freedom, pluralism, and the coexistence of differences. Through an analysis of On Liberty and other political writings, the article shows how freedom of thought, expression, individuality, and dissent become the essential conditions for a non-violent and genuinely democratic society. Against every form of ‘tyranny of the majority’, Mill defends the value of critical confrontation and fallibility as indispensable elements of both intellectual and political progress. The paper also explores possible connections between Mill’s reflections and those of later thinkers such as Karl Popper, Benedetto Croce, and Edgar Morin, emphasising the relationship between openness, plurality, and peace. In this perspective, peace is notachieved through conformity or suppression of conflict, but through the protection of liberty, individuality, and dialogue within society.