第37章

andtoconsiderhowtheevilsmightbecorrectedwhilefreeplaymightbeallowedtothebeneficialtendencies。Itenlightenedhim，hesays，moreespeciallyonthegreatquestionofcentralisation，andfreedhimfromthe’unreasoningprejudices’

whichledsomeoftheradicalstoopposeevensuchmeasuresasthenewPoorLaw。(5*)SomuchmayindicateMill’sgeneralattitude；and，ifhisconclusionswerequestionable，themainpurposewassofareminentlyphilosophical。

MillbeginshisLibertybyinsistinguponthedangertowhichhisattentionhadbeenrousedbythecourseofevents。Theconflictbetweenlibertyandauthorityledtothedemandthatrulersshouldbecome。responsibletotheirsubjects；andwhenthisresultwassecured，anewevilappeared。Thetyrannyofthemajoritymightsupplantthetyrannyofrulers；and，iflessformidablepolitically，mightbeevenworsespiritually。’Socialtyranny’maybemorepenetrativethanpolitical，andenslavethesoulitself。(6*)InEnglandthe’yokeoflaw’maybelighter，butthe’yokeofopinion’isperhapsheavierthanelsewhereinEurope。Whenthemasseshavelearnedtheirpower，theywillprobablybeastyrannicalinlegislationasinpublicopinion。(7*)Thepurposeofhisessayistoassert’oneverysimpleprinciple’bywhichthistendencymayberestrained。Thatprincipleis(briefly)thatthesoleendwhichwarrantsinterferencewithindividualactionis’self-protection。’Hewillarguenotfrom’abstractrights，’butfrom’utility’understoodinitslargestsense，andcorresponding’totheinterestsofamanasaprogressivebeing。’

II。INTELLECTUALLIBERTY

Theprinciplethusformulatedisapplicablebothinthesphereofspeculationandinthesphereofconduct。Millfirstconsiders’libertyofthoughtanddiscussion。’Hehasheretheadvantageofstartingfromagenerallyadmittedprinciple。Everyonenowadmits，inwordsatleast，thedoctrineoftoleration。

Millmighthaveadducedacatenaofauthoritiesbeginningwiththeseventeenthcenturywriterswho，havingthemselvessufferedpersecution，wereslowlyperceivingthatpersecutionevenoferrorwasobjectionable。Itisaproofofhisabilitythathecouldgivefreshinteresttosooldatopic。Inthepreviousgenerationindeedithadstillbeenapracticalquestion。TheearlyUtilitarianshadtoattackthedisqualificationsimposedupondissenters，andhadremonstratedagainstthepersecutionofCarlisle。ThatincidenthadstartedMill’sliterarycareer。

Moreover，ashepointsout，theprosecutionsofPooley，Truelove，andMrHolyoakeshowedthattheoldspiritwasnotextinctin1857。(8*)Still，thesewerebut’ragsandremnantsofpersecution。’IndenouncingthemMillwasgoingwiththetide。

Thegrounduponwhichheplantshisargumentismoresignificant。

Theolderwritershadchieflyinsisteduponthequestionofright。Itcannotbejusttopunishamanforactingrightly，anditmustsurelyberightformetospeakwhatIconscientiouslybelievetobetrue。OneofJamesMill’sarticlesintheWestminstertookthisground。SamuelBaileyhadarguedthatamancannotberesponsibletomenforhisbeliefs，inasmuchastheyarebeyondhisowncontrol。Hemaybefoolish，buthecannotbeimmoral——athesiswhichJamesMilldefendedagainstcertaintheologicalopponents。(9*)J。S。Mill，takingthegroundof’utility，’isledtowiderconsiderations。Hearguesinsubstancethatthesuppressionofopinionsoroftheirfreeutteranceisalwaysopposedtothemostvitalinterestsofsociety。Hencethequestionastolibertyofthoughtconnectsitselfwiththewholequestionastolibertyofconduct。Itcomesunderhisgeneralprincipleastotherightfulprovincesofcollectiveandindividualaction。Hisgeneralconclusionuponfreedomofdismissionissummedupinfourpropositions。(10*)Theopinionssuppressedmay，inthefirstplace，betrue。Todenythatpossibilityistoassumeinfallibility。Secondly，ifnotwholly，theymaybepartly，true；andtosuppressthemistopreventnecessarycorrectionsoftheacceptedbeliefs。Thirdly，evenatrueopinionwhichrefusestobetestedbycontroversywillbeimperfectlyunderstood。Andfourthly，anopinionsoheldwillbecomeadeadformula，andonly’cumbertheground，’preventingthegrowthofrealandheartfeltconvictions。

Thegeneralvalidityoftheargumentsisunimpeachable，andthevigourofstatementdeservesallco