Abstract
In the first chapter of his essay On Liberty, Mill emphasizes on the importance of the civil and social grounds of liberty, as opposed to the « Liberty of the Will ». Therefore his work deals with the opposition between his concept of liberty and the needed authority of the state. At first Mill argues that men were keen on being governed in order to be protected against tyranny. Then they started to advocate the case for an independent and revocable power. As a result Mill states that the promotion of democracy has become the priority of human beings and made the limitation of state's power a useless struggle. However such a move towards democratic principles should not be considered as a decisive progress on the way to liberty, since Mill adds that the majority may actually act in accordance with what he names the “tyranny of the majority”.
Indeed the interests of the majority may not be in adequacy with those of other groups or minorities and thus may hamper the freedom of those latter. Furthermore the concept of majority does not necessarily refer to the “largest part of the people” but rather to the most active one in terms of democratic participation. Mill insists on the fact that state's power and collective opinion do have to act within the limits of the law. It is therefore through the law that one may act against another to limit his liberty if this latter has harmed anyone. “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”.
