《论自由·第一章·导论》第1节
The subject of this Essay is not the so-called Liberty of the Will, so unfortunately opposed to the misnamed doctrine of Philosophical Necessity; but Civil, or Social Liberty: the nature and limits of the power which can be legitimately exercised by society over the individual. A question seldom stated, and hardly ever discussed, in general terms, but which profoundly influences the practical controversies of the age by its latent presence, and is likely soon to make itself recognised as the vital question of the future. It is so far from being new, that in a certain sense, it has divided mankind, almost from the remotest ages; but in the stage of progress into which the more civilised portions of the species have now entered, it presents itself under new conditions, and requires a different and more fundamental treatment.
注释摘要
密尔开篇就做了一个至关重要的切割：他要谈的不是哲学上争论不休的意志自由问题，不是人究竟有没有自由意志、以及它与所谓“哲学必然性”教义的纠葛。他径直把论域锁定在公民自由或社会自由——即社会能对个人合法地施加多少权力的性质与界限。这个切割本身就透露出一种强烈的现实关切：他不想让这部作品陷在形而上的玄谈里，而要直面那个时代正在成形的、紧迫的政治与道德困境。 从论…