On Liberty
- Language:
- English
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Written by the author
- Condition of the text:
- Clean text
- Extent:
- ~55,200 words · 262 passages
Cite this work
- APAJohn Stuart Mill. (n.d.). On Liberty. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/john-stuart-mill/on-liberty
- MLAJohn Stuart Mill. "On Liberty." SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/john-stuart-mill/on-liberty.
- ChicagoJohn Stuart Mill. On Liberty. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/john-stuart-mill/on-liberty.
What it is about
The classic defence of individual liberty: the only legitimate reason to exercise power over anyone against their will is to prevent harm to others — never their own good, nor the opinion of the majority.
Context and history
Published in 1859, the same year as 'On the Origin of Species'. Mill conceived it with his wife, Harriet Taylor, who had died the year before; the dedication calls it half hers, and he refused ever to revise a line of it. What troubled him was not so much the tyrant as a newer threat: the tyranny of the majority and of custom in democratic societies, the social suffocation of anyone who thinks differently. It is the work that has set the terms of the free-speech debate to this day.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
_To the beloved and deplored memory of her who was the inspirer, and in part the author, of all that is best in my writings--the friend and wife whose exalted sense of truth and right was my strongest incitement, and whose approbation was my chief reward--I dedicate this volume. Like all that I have written for many years, it belongs as much to her as to me; but the work as it stands has had, in a very insufficient degree, the inestimable advantage of her revision; some of the most important portions having been reserved for a more careful re-examination, which they are now never destined to receive. Were I but capable of interpreting to the world one-half the great thoughts and noble feelings which are buried in her grave, I should be the medium of a greater benefit to it than is ever likely to arise from anything that I can write, unprompted and unassisted by her all but unrivalled wisdom._ INTRODUCTION. I. John Stuart Mill was born on 20th May 1806. He was a delicate child, and the extraordinary education designed by his father was not calculated to develop and improve his physical powers. "I never was a boy," he says; "never played cricket." His exercise was taken in the form of walks with his father, during which the elder Mill lectured his son and examined him on his work. It is idle to speculate on the possible results of a different treatment. Mill remained delicate throughout his life, but was endowed with that intense mental energy which is so often combined with physical weakness. His youth was sacrificed to an idea; he was designed by his father to carry on his work; the individuality of the boy was unimportant. A visit to the south of France at the age of fourteen, in company with the family of General Si
Themes in this work
Quotes
“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.”
“A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction.”
“He who lets the world, or his own portion of it, choose his plan of life for him, has no need of any other faculty than the ape-like one of imitation.”
“The despotism of custom is everywhere the standing hindrance to human advancement.”
“The amount of eccentricity in a society has generally been proportional to the amount of genius, mental vigour, and moral courage which it contained.”