On Liberty

THE liberty of the individual and of minority groups to act and think without undue restraint takes precedence in this work. John Stuart Mill’s concern is with modern European governments in which “the will of the people” constitutes the authority setting limits on liberty. The very progress of a nation is threatened when ideas and opinions are punished or restrained. Suppressed beliefs and actions, he points out, are condemned in one era and lauded in the next. Mill, however, recognizes instances when actions should be banned or at least discouraged. The challenge is to establish the proper balance between liberty and restraint. from Chapter IThe object of this Essay is to assert one very simple principle, as entitled to govern absolutely the dealings of society with the individual in the way of compulsion and control, whether the means used be physical force in the form of legal penalties, or the moral coercion of public opinion. That principle is, that the sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection. That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.