Comb through the works of just about any philosopher, particularly one as prolific as John Stuart Mill, and you’re going to hit upon a few contradictions. Here for instance is Mill writing in his central work, On Liberty:
The object of this Essay is to assert one very simple principle, as entitled to govern absolutely the dealings of society with the individual. . . . 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.
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