A defense of individual freedom against social tyranny, holding that liberty may be curbed only to prevent harm to others.
Books mentioned in On Liberty (4)
Système de politique positive by Auguste Comte: “M. Comte, in particular, whose social system, as unfolded in his Traité de Politique Positive, aims at establishing (though by moral more than by legal appliances) a despotism of society over the individual, surpassing anything contemplated in the political ideal of the most rigid disciplinarian among the ancient philosophers.”
Apology by Plato: “Impiety, in denying the gods recognised by the State; indeed his accuser asserted (see the "Apologia") that he believed in no gods at all.”
The Sphere and Duties of Government by Wilhelm von Humboldt: “Few persons, out of Germany, even comprehend the meaning of the doctrine which Wilhelm von Humboldt, so eminent both as a savant and as a politician, made the text of a treatise… [11] The Sphere and Duties of Government, from the German of Baron Wilhelm von Humboldt, pp. 11-13.”
Essays and Tales by John Sterling: “"Pagan self-assertion" is one of the elements of human worth, as well as "Christian self-denial."[12] … [12] Sterling's Essays.”
Books that mention On Liberty (5)
The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt: “The patron saint of a contractual society is John Stuart Mill, who wrote (in On Liberty) that "the only purpose for which power”
The Iron Heel by Jack London: “* Before Avis Everhard was born, John Stuart Mill, in his essay, ON LIBERTY, wrote: "Wherever there is an ascendant class, a large portion of the morality emanates from its class interests and its class feelings of superiority."”
Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion: “a young woman "reading aloud to the supervisors a passage from John Stuart Mill's On Liberty"”
The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler: “caused serious commotion within the bosom of the Church. Perhaps Buckle's "History of Civilisation" and Mill's "Liberty" were the most alarming, but they neither of them reached the substratum of the reading”