Passage (John Stuart Mill, *On Liberty*, 1859, Ch. II): "But I deny the right of the people to exercise such coercion, either by themselves or by their government. The power itself is illegitimate. The best government has no more title to it than the worst. It is as noxious, or more noxious, when exerted in accordance with public opinion, than when in opposition to it. If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. Were an opinion a personal possession of no value except to the owner; if to be obstructed in the enjoyment of it were simply a private injury, it would make some difference whether the injury was inflicted only on a few persons or on many. But the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error." Which of the following best states the main claim of the passage?
AA government should silence opinions only when public opinion is strongly opposed to them.
BThe suppression of an opinion harms not only its holder but all of humanity, regardless of whether the opinion is true.
CErrors of opinion are dangerous only to those who hold them, so society is generally indifferent to their suppression.
DThe best safeguard against silenced opinion is a government accountable to public opinion.
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. The suppression of an opinion harms not only its holder but all of humanity, regardless of whether the opinion is true.
Mill's central move is the symmetric claim: it does not matter whether the suppressed opinion is right or wrong; either way the suppression *robs the human race*. The closing two sentences spell out both branches — if right, the chance to exchange error for truth is lost; if wrong, the chance to sharpen one's grasp of truth through collision with error is lost.
- **A** inverts Mill: he says coercion in *accordance* with public opinion is *more* noxious, not less.
- **C** is the position Mill is explicitly arguing **against** (the "private possession" hypothetical he sets up only to reject).
- **D** swaps Mill's argument for a procedural recommendation he never makes; he is questioning whether any authority should have this power, not how to organize it.
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