Work · Empiricism, Enlightenment & Liberalism
On Liberty
The harm principle and the tyranny of the majority.
Introduction
On Liberty appeared in February 1859, a few months after the death of Harriet Taylor Mill, to whom it is dedicated and whom Mill described as a joint author of much of his work. Its concern is less the old conflict between subjects and rulers than social pressure in democratic societies. Freedom of thought and discussion is defended because even false opinions keep true ones from hardening into dead dogma; individuality is treated as part of human well-being, and “experiments of living” as a benefit to everyone. The last chapter applies the principle to cases such as the sale of poisons. The book remains a reference point in debates on free speech and paternalism.
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Connections
Taken up in
- Two Concepts of Liberty1958 · Isaiah Berlin
- Against Method1975 · Paul Feyerabend
More works by John Stuart Mill
- 1863Utilitarianism
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