On Liberty

THE subject of this Essay is non the so-called Liberty of the Will, so unluckily opposed to the misnamed doctrine of Philosophical Necessity; alone Civil, or Social Liberty: the nature and limits of the power which force step forward be legitimately exercised by society over the individual. A question seldom stated, and hardly ever discussed, in oecumenic terms, but which profoundly influences the practical controversies of the age by its latent presence, and is likely soon to make itself recognized as the critical question of the future. It is so far from being new, that, in a certain sense, it has divided mankind, almost from the remotest ages, but in the live for of progress into which the more civilized portions of the species have now entered, it presents itself bottom(prenominal) new conditions, and requires a different and more fundamental treatment. The deal betwixt Liberty and Authority is the most conspicuous distinction in the portions of history with whic h we are earliest familiar, particularly in that of Greece, Rome, and England. But in old times this contest was mingled with subjects, or some classes of subjects, and the government. By liberty, was meant protection against the tyranny of the governmental rulers.

The rulers were conceived (except in some of the popular governments of Greece) as in a necessarily antagonistic position to the people whom they ruled. They consisted of a constitution One, or a governing tribe or caste, who derived their order from inheritance or conquest; who, at all events, did non hold it at the pleasure of the governed, and whose supremacy men did non venture, perhaps did not desire, to contest, wha tever precautions might be interpret agains! t its oppressive exercise. Their power was regarded as necessary, but also as highly dangerous; as a weapon which they would produce on to use against their subjects, no less than against external enemies. To restrain the weaker members of the fraternity from being preyed upon by innumerable vultures, it was needful that there...If you trust to wee a full essay, order it on our website: OrderEssay.net

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