The harm principle is a liberty-limiting principle in the sense that it justifies interference or coercion from the state in order to prevent individuals from harming others. The principle is predicated on the value of autonomy, the idea that individuals who are mentally competent and of legal age are best suited to decide for themselves how to live. By respecting autonomy in its fullest sense, the harm principle protects the individual from unjust interference from the ruling majority, who may have different ideas about the best way to live.
This is in contrast to legal moralism and paternalism. Legal moralism holds that if an activity is immoral then it should be illegal. The problem with legal moralism is that it does not respect a person’s autonomy in lifestyle decisions, especially if the majority thinks that way of life is immoral. For example, some people consider homosexuality immoral and for that very reason think it should be outlawed. They think that those who engage in a...
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Stone, S.A. (2011). Harm Principle. In: Chatterjee, D.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Justice. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9160-5_288
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