The Sphere and Duties of Government (The Limits of State Action)

2014 Reprint of 1854 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition. Not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Translated by Joseph Coulthard. According to the author "the grand, leading principle, towards which every argument ... unfolded in these pages directly converges, is the absolute and essential importance of human development in its richest diversity." This description by Wilhelm von Humboldt of his purpose in writing this classic work animates John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty" and serves as its famous epigraph. Seldom has a book spoken so dramatically to another writer. Many commentators even believe that Humboldt's discussion of issues of freedom and individual responsibility possesses greater clarity and directness than Mill's. This title, written by "Germany's greatest philosopher of freedom," as F. A. Hayek called him, has an exuberance and attention to principle that make it a valuable introduction to classical liberal political thought. It is also crucial for an understanding of liberalism as it developed in Europe at the turn of the nineteenth century. Humboldt explores the role that liberty plays in individual development, discusses criteria for permitting the state to limit individual actions, and suggests ways of confining the state to its proper bounds. In so doing, he uniquely combines the ancient concern for human excellence and the modern concern for what has come to be known as negative liberty.