At the time it was published in 1859, John Stuart Mill's On Liberty was a radical and controversial work; it argued for the right of individuals to possess freedom from the state in moral and economic matters. Mill declares that "e; Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign"e; , contrasting this with the "e; tyranny of the majority. "e; He states that an individual can do anything they like as long as it doesn't harm another - the well-known "e; harm principle"e; . On Liberty had a huge impact and has remained a relevant philosophical and political text today.
