On Liberty

No one can be a great thinker who does not recognise, that as a thinker it is his first duty to follow his intellect to whatever conclusions it may lead. Truth gains more even by the errors of one who, with due study and preparation, thinks for himself, than by the true opinions of those who only hold them because they do not suffer themselves to think. -John Stuart Mill, in On Liberty Often mentioned in the same breath with the Communist Manifesto, On Liberty-perhaps the greatest work from British political philosopher John Stuart Mill-is one of the most profound and most hotly debated works of the 19th century. Is it a classic plea for human freedom and intellectual development... or is it factually wrong and morally offensive?

Published in 1859, this essay by British philosopher and economist John Stuart Mill (1806-73) remains a major influence upon liberal political thought today. In this work, Mill defines liberty as an absolute individual right, and defends freedom of speech as a necessary condition of social and intellectual progress.