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." The author's attitude toward the suppression of opinion can best be characterized as:
Acategorical condemnation
Bcautious approval
Camused detachment
Dresigned acceptance
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A. categorical condemnation
Mill's language is unhedged: "the power itself is **illegitimate**," "as **noxious**, or more noxious," "the **peculiar evil**," "**robbing** the human race." These are absolute terms with no qualification, and the structure of the paragraph reinforces them — Mill states the rule, sets up a hypothetical that *might* qualify it, and dismisses the hypothetical.
- **A** is wrong because there is no approval at all — only condemnation.
- **C** is the opposite of the paragraph's intense, polemical register.
- **D** is what one might call *quiescent* acceptance; Mill is the furthest thing from resigned. The whole point of *On Liberty* is to oppose the practice he describes.
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