The Best of the OLL No. 48: J.S. Mill, “Utilitarianism” (1863) (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2013).

The Best of the OLL No. 21: Jeremy Bentham, “The Greatest Happiness of the Greatest Number” (1830) (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2013).

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. Mill’s classic statement of the utilitarian position appeared in 1861 in a series of articles in Fraser’s Magazine between October and December 1861. It then was published as a book in 1863. He built his theory on the foundation laid my his father’s and his intellectual mentor Jeremy Bentham which became the dominant liberal theory of ethics in the English speaking world in the 19th century.

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. In this extract Bentham defines the two principles on which he bases his political theory, namely the greatest happiness-principle and the self-preference principle. He notes that traditionally rulers have pursued their own “self-preference” or happiness and that of their supporters, at the expence of the happiness of the society at large. He calls the small group of individuals who pursue their own goals at the expence of the community the “sinister interest.”

The Best of the OLL No. 25: Estienne de la Boétie, “The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude” (1552) (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2013).

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. Boétie asks one of the most profound questions of political theory, why does the majority obey the commands of the small minority of people who run the state? His answer is that custom, education, state propaganda, and the promise of some material benefits encourage people to obey and to accept the legitimacy of their ruler.

The Best of the OLL No. 47: Wilhelm von Humboldt, “Of the Individual Man” (1792) (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2013).

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. Humboldt’s book The Limits of State Action is one of the best works defending individual liberty and the limited state ever written and also one of the first book-length surveys of classical liberal political theory. Only a few extracts appeared in journals during his life. The entire work was not published until after his death.

The Best of the OLL No. 45 [George Mason], “The Virginia Bill of Rights” (June, 1776) (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2013).

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list with links to HTML versions of the texts is available here. George Mason (1725-1792) wrote the first draft of what was to become the Virginia Declaration of Rights in May 1776 and it was ratified by the Fifth Virginia Convention on June 12, 1776. It is noteworthy for being the first declaration of rights, preceding Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence, the Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. All three of these important documents were influenced to some degree by what Mason had written.