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Definition of Irony
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this seems like a loose definition... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how... read full definition
Chapter 2: Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion
Explanation and Analysis—The Critical Crucifixion:
In Chapter 2, Mill alludes to the story of Jesus Christ's crucifixion. This story, as re-told by Mill, highlights a double irony in the foundation of Christianity: first, Jesus himself was prosecuted as a blasphemer, and second, Saint Paul, eventually one of the apostles, started off as a persecutor of Jesus's disciples:
The high-priest who rent his garments when the words were pronounced, which, according to all the ideas of his country, constituted the blackest guilt, was in all probability quite as sincere in his horror and indignation as the generality of respectable and pious men now are in the religious and moral sentiments they profess; and most of those who now shudder at his conduct, if they had lived in his time, and been born Jews, would have acted precisely as he did. Orthodox Christians who are tempted to think that those who stoned to death the first martyrs must have been worse men than they themselves are, ought to remember that one of those persecutors was Saint Paul.
All of this is to say that beliefs change, and that human judgement is eternally fallible—and therefore that objective truth cannot always withstand assaults from authority. If a figure as influential and benevolent as Jesus can be put to death, Mill argues, then we cannot assume goodness and justice will automatically prevail. Instead, we must take the initiative to think critically and decide for ourselves.
Related Themes:
