...Therefore, 'The object of this essay', he wrote in On Liberty, 'is to assert one very simple principle, as entitled to govern absolutely the dealings of society with the individual in the way of compulsion and control'.99 Mill then proceeded to state the principle: 'That principle', he said, 'is that the sole...

...that the state of our knowledge is such as to enable us to enunciate any "very simple principle as entitled to govern absolutely the dealings of society with the individual in the way of compulsion and control"'100 But Mill restricts the application of his principle both to agents satisfying certain...

...society and the individual with regard to compulsion and control, regardless whether the means used are physical force in the form of legal penalties or the moral coercion of public opinion. The principle that the sole end for which humanity is warranted, individually or collectively in interfering...