Editing Harm principle (section)

{{Short description|Moral philosophy principle}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=August 2016}}
{{Liberalism sidebar |Ideas}}
The '''harm principle''' holds that the actions of [[individual]]s should be limited only to prevent [[harm]] to other individuals. [[John Stuart Mill]] articulated the principle in the 1859 essay ''[[On Liberty]]'', where he argued that "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."<ref name="leeds1">{{Cite encyclopedia| title = Freedom of Speech| encyclopedia = Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy| date = 17 April 2008| url = http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/freedom-speech/#HarPriFreSpe| access-date = 10 June 2013}}</ref>  An equivalent was earlier stated in France's ''[[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]]'' of 1789 as, "Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of the same rights. These limits can only be determined by law." It finds earlier expression in [[Thomas Jefferson]]'s 1785 "[[Notes on the State of Virginia]]", Query 17 (Religion) in which he writes, "The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/amendI_religions40.html | title=Amendment I (Religion): Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query 17, 157--61 }}</ref>