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2.3 MB
Extraction Summary
4
People
2
Organizations
0
Locations
2
Events
1
Relationships
3
Quotes
Document Information
Type:
Article / publication extract (evidence exhibit)
File Size:
2.3 MB
Summary
This document is a single page (labeled Article 7, page 22) containing an article titled 'The Good Autocrat' by Robert D. Kaplan, published in The National Interest on June 21, 2011. The text analyzes John Stuart Mill's 1859 essay 'On Liberty,' focusing on Mill's commentary regarding Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, his virtues, and his persecution of Christians. The document bears a 'HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_032192' Bates stamp, indicating it was included as evidence in a Congressional investigation.
People (4)
| Name | Role | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Robert D. Kaplan | Author |
Author of the article 'The Good Autocrat'
|
| John Stuart Mill | Historical Figure / Philosopher |
English philosopher quoted extensively in the article regarding his work 'On Liberty'
|
| Marcus Aurelius | Historical Figure / Roman Emperor |
Subject of Mill's analysis regarding power, virtue, and the persecution of Christians
|
| Christ | Religious Figure |
Mentioned in comparison to the ethical teachings of Marcus Aurelius
|
Organizations (2)
| Name | Type | Context |
|---|---|---|
| The National Interest |
Publication where the article appeared
|
|
| House Oversight Committee |
Implied by the Bates stamp 'HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_032192'
|
Timeline (2 events)
June 21, 2011
Relationships (1)
Mill analyzes Aurelius in his essay 'On Liberty'
Key Quotes (3)
"That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others."Source
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Quote #1
"If ever any one, possessed of power, had grounds for thinking himself the best and most enlightened among his contemporaries, it was the Emperor Marcus Aurelius."Source
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Quote #2
"No Christian,” Mill writes, “more firmly believes"Source
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Quote #3
Full Extracted Text
Complete text extracted from the document (1,789 characters)
22
Article 7.
The National Interest
The Good Autocrat
Robert D. Kaplan
The National Interest
The Good Autocrat
Robert D. Kaplan
June 21, 2011 -- IN HIS extended essay, On Liberty, published in
1859, the English philosopher John Stuart Mill famously declares,
“That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised
over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to
prevent harm to others.” Mill’s irreducible refutation of tyranny leads
him to—I have always felt—one of the most moving passages in
literature, in which he extols the moral virtues of Marcus Aurelius,
only to register the Roman’s supreme flaw. Mill writes:
If ever any one, possessed of power, had grounds for thinking himself
the best and most enlightened among his contemporaries, it was the
Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Absolute monarch of the whole civilized
world, he preserved through life not only the most unblemished
justice, but what was less to be expected from his Stoical breeding,
the tenderest heart. The few failings which are attributed to him, were
all on the side of indulgence: while his writings, the highest ethical
product of the ancient mind, differ scarcely perceptibly, if they differ
at all, from the most characteristic teachings of Christ. And yet, as
Mill laments, this “unfettered intellect,” this exemplar of humanism
by second-century-AD standards, persecuted Christians. As
deplorable a state as society was in at the time (wars, internal revolts,
cruelty in all its manifestations), Marcus Aurelius assumed that what
held it together and kept it from getting worse was the acceptance of
the existing divinities, which the adherents of Christianity threatened
to dissolve. He simply could not foresee a world knit together by new
and better ties. “No Christian,” Mill writes, “more firmly believes
1859, the English philosopher John Stuart Mill famously declares,
“That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised
over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to
prevent harm to others.” Mill’s irreducible refutation of tyranny leads
him to—I have always felt—one of the most moving passages in
literature, in which he extols the moral virtues of Marcus Aurelius,
only to register the Roman’s supreme flaw. Mill writes:
If ever any one, possessed of power, had grounds for thinking himself
the best and most enlightened among his contemporaries, it was the
Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Absolute monarch of the whole civilized
world, he preserved through life not only the most unblemished
justice, but what was less to be expected from his Stoical breeding,
the tenderest heart. The few failings which are attributed to him, were
all on the side of indulgence: while his writings, the highest ethical
product of the ancient mind, differ scarcely perceptibly, if they differ
at all, from the most characteristic teachings of Christ. And yet, as
Mill laments, this “unfettered intellect,” this exemplar of humanism
by second-century-AD standards, persecuted Christians. As
deplorable a state as society was in at the time (wars, internal revolts,
cruelty in all its manifestations), Marcus Aurelius assumed that what
held it together and kept it from getting worse was the acceptance of
the existing divinities, which the adherents of Christianity threatened
to dissolve. He simply could not foresee a world knit together by new
and better ties. “No Christian,” Mill writes, “more firmly believes
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_032192
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