Liberty, Equality, Fraternity

With great energy and clarity, Sir James Fitzjames Stephen (1829-1894), author of History of the Criminal Law of England, and judge of the High Court from 1879-91, challenges John Stuart Mill's On Liberty and On Utilitarianism, arguing that Mill's view of humanity is sentimental and utopian. "His writing is strong meat--full of the threat of hellfrire, the virtue of government by the lash and a fervent belief that the state cannot remain neutral but has a duty to espouse a moral code."--Roderick Munday, Cambridge Law Journal