On Liberty

American  

noun

1. a treatise (1859) by John Stuart Mill on the rights of the individual within the state.

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“On Liberty” Cultural  

1. (1859) An essay by John Stuart Mill in defense of the liberal idea of political freedom. Mill takes a firm position that the state may interfere with the freedom of individuals only to protect other individuals; the person's “own good” is not a sufficient reason.

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Example Sentences

All of them were trapped on Liberty Island with what little they’d been able to buy before the storm, and there was still no sign of help from the outside.

From Literature

This emphasis on liberty and equality, Lincoln said, shifting images, was “the electric cord . . . that links the hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving men together, that will link those patriotic hearts as long as the love of freedom exists in the minds of men throughout the world.”

From The Wall Street Journal

The case turned not on guilt or innocence, nor on liberty or confinement, but on a piece of paper the court already had.

From Slate

A sturdy and symbolic soapbox for speeches on liberty.

From Slate

Warnings about a "chilling effect" on free speech date back at least as far as the publication of John Stuart Mill's famous essay, On Liberty, in 1859.

From BBC