《论自由·第四章·社会凌驾个人之权力的限度》第14节
To come somewhat nearer home: the majority of Spaniards consider it a gross impiety, offensive in the highest degree to the Supreme Being, to worship him in any other manner than the Roman Catholic; and no other public worship is lawful on Spanish soil. The people of all Southern Europe look upon a married clergy as not only irreligious, but unchaste, indecent, gross, disgusting. What do Protestants think of these perfectly sincere feelings, and of the attempt to enforce them against non-Catholics? Yet, if mankind are justified in interfering with each other's liberty in things which do not concern the interests of others, on what principle is it possible consistently to exclude these cases? or who can blame people for desiring to suppress what they regard as a scandal in the sight of God and man? No stronger case can be shown for prohibiting anything which is regarded as a personal immorality, than is made out for suppressing these practices in the eyes of those who regard them as impieties; and unless we are willing to adopt the logic of persecutors, and to say that we may persecute others because we are right, and that they must not persecute us because they are wrong, we must beware of admitting a principle of which we should resent as a gross injustice the application to ourselves.
注释摘要
密尔这一段的论证，是在为他所划定的个人自由领域做一种归谬法的辩护。他在这一章的核心任务，是厘清社会权威与个人主权之间的边界。此前他已经阐明，只有那些损害他人利益的行为，社会才有正当的管辖权。而对于纯粹关涉自身的言行，即便在旁人看来是愚蠢、堕落或有失体面的，社会也只能以劝说、告诫乃至疏远等自然反应来对待，而不能动用法律或社会舆论的强制力去惩罚。他接下来要处理…