![]() ![]() This is because Mill makes clear, from the outset, that he will not appeal to any “abstract right” of individual liberty (as a natural rights libertarian may) but rather ground the entire case for liberty on the principle of utility. ![]() ![]() He also takes as his primary target not the authority of government but rather social authority, an issue libertarians are wont to ignore.Īnd yet, despite the canonical status of On Liberty, it is quite common to suggest that Mill’s explicit argument for the primacy of individual liberty and the harm principle is a failure. Often left out of libertarian discussions of On Liberty, Mill is explicit that his conception of “harm” that guides the harm principle includes a failure to provide assistance to those in need. But there is also much in there for the progressive liberal. ![]() It is embraced by libertarians and classical liberals for its elaboration of the “harm principle,” a seemingly significant constraint on government action. John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty stands as one of the pillars of modern liberal thought. ![]()
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