John Stuart Mill suggested in his famous work on Liberty (1859) that human freedom in society should be absolute to the extent an individual's desired conduct does not harm other individuals. Experts in philosophy (Taylor, 1980) consider the following passage to represent Mill's position most comprehensively:
The object of this Essay is to assert one very simple principle...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." (Shields, 1956).
Authority over individuals within this principle is the underlying basis of civil law and the statutory definitions of criminal conduct in free societies. Dictatorships, autocracies, and oligarchies generally do not subscribe to Mill's principle, but impose limitations...
Examples of contemporary societies that strive to fulfill Mill's principles of liberty include the Western European nations and the United States. Contemporary examples of societies that do not refrain from unjustly, selfishly, and arbitrarily limiting individual freedoms included many Eastern European nations under the Soviet umbrella, prior to the downfall of the Soviet Union in the last decade of the twentieth century. Other modern examples include many Middle Eastern countries where royal families and religious leaders strictly limit religious and other basic freedoms and, of course, Iraq, before Saddam Hussein was deposed by U.S. intervention.
References
Shields, C. (1956) John Stuart Mill: On Liberty. Bobbes-Merrill Co.:
Indianapolis
Taylor, R. (1980) Freedom, Anarchy, and the Law: An Introduction to Political Philosophy. Prometheus: Buffalo
