Study Questions
Carlyle, Past and Present
  1. According to Carlyle, why does Gurth seem happy? What is Carlyle's point about liberty?
  2. How does he use social conditions in England to reinforce his point? (See the opening footnote.)
  3. What is Carlyle's attitude towards workers? [See bio, 32 (bottom)-33/53-54.]
  4. Why are the Captains of Industry best equipped to solve the social crisis Carlyle notes? (See pages 58-60)
  5. Why is the past a model for the present? What values does the past contain for Carlyle?
  6. Do you see a problem with Carlyle's argument in PP? What would it be? (See bio 32-33)
Mill, On Liberty
  1. What is Mill's main point about individualism in Victorian society?
  2. Why are individual desires and impulses a positive force? (See 83)
  3. Do individual desires and impulses conflict with the rights of others?
  4. Why does Mill invoke, briefly, the medieval past? (See 87--"from feudality to the present time")
  5. How does Mill's view of "the average man" compare to Carlyle's view of workers? (See 87-88)