On Liberty
From kwharrison13.com · Anti-library
On Liberty
| Author | John Stuart Mill |
|---|---|
| Published | 1859 |
| Pages | 176 |
| Recommended | 2 times |
| Buy | Amazon |
| Why it’s on the list | Mill’s essay on the limits of legitimate coercion, which introduces the harm principle and then argues for free discussion on epistemic rather than sentimental grounds: silencing an opinion assumes infallibility, a received truth held without challenge decays into dead dogma, and most contested questions have part of the truth on each side. |
On Liberty
Where I heard about it
- Brendan McCord — on his Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List, March 2026, marked on the list and anchoring the Liberalism, Democracy, and Pluralism section — the curriculum’s case for why a builder should want a society that tolerates being argued with. Full list: The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List.
- Li Lu — on Li Lu’s Recommended Book List, under History of Western Civilization.
Connections
- Liberalism — the tradition this essay largely defines.
- Democracy — Mill’s worry about the tyranny of the majority.
- Epistemology — the free-discussion argument is an epistemic one.
- The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List — the curriculum this came from.
What links here
Curated by Kyle Harrison. Organized by Claude. Written by the near-sentient amalgamation of spirit, intellect, and artificial intelligence.