Essays On Individuality Classic Reprint PDF Download

Excerpt from The Limits of Individual Liberty: An Essay Individual freedom and the function of the State have recently been topics of much controversy, not only among those who speculate upon politics, but among practical politicians in Parliament and in the newspapers. In these discussions all parties necessarily make many assumptions which require no small pains to define and verify. Every solution of a particular problem must imply general principles, and every general principle must have its place in a theory. A complete theory of individual liberty and the function of the State is a complete political philosophy; and a philosophy of politics involves a philosophy of things in general. The following essay does not pretend to be complete or to be philosophic. It merely aims at carrying political reflection one or two stages beyond the point reached by those whose sole interest is in party politics. It cannot assist the scientific inquirer; but it may interest some of those who like to criticize their own opinions. Such persons there are even in our own country; and if they find anything suggestive in this volume, it will have fulfilled the wishes of its author. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.