Harm Principle

Abstract The harm principle is most closely associated with John Stuart Mill's (1806–73) defense of individual liberty in his famous essayOn Liberty(1859), although he himself did not give it that name (seeHarm; Mill, John Stuart). Mill wanted to set certain limits to “social control” over the conduct of individuals, and he proposed the harm principle as the “one very simple principle” for that purpose: “That principle is, that the sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number is self‐protection. That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others” (1977: 223).