Liberty and law

Abstract

In the last chapter we took for granted that coercion requires justification. Coercion limits liberty, so that protection of liberty under law is closely tied to the problem of legal coercion. But our focus in this chapter is different. Experience shows that law frequently threatens to invade certain areas of choice which many regard as especially important to secure from legal intervention. We shall examine some of the problems posed by legal paternalism, the enforcement of morality, and restrictions on speech, with the aim of understanding why liberty should be protected. The problem of paternalism All of the problems we have listed for discussion in this chapter are dealt with by Mill in his classic essay On Liberty . Mill there defends 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 civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because, in the opinions of others, to do so would be wise or even right.