Power may be exercised over an individual against their will only to prevent harm to others.
Mill's 1859 principle. The work is all in what counts as harm — the narrower the definition, the more liberty it protects, and the boundary has never been settled.
In practice
- A council bans a shop's late opening because neighbours dislike the noise, which is harm, and because they dislike the clientele, which is not.
- A workplace policy on conduct outside work is defensible where clients are affected and contested everywhere else.
- Further reading
- Wikipedia
- Subject
- Law & Politics
- Essay
- Rules that restrain power, and advice on using it