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First published 1854

The Sphere and Duties of Government

by Wilhelm von Humboldt

London: John Chapman, 1854; Online Library of Liberty edition116 pages

The Sphere and Duties of Government by Wilhelm von Humboldt is available as a free PDF and EPUB download at freecapitalists.org.

Author
Wilhelm von Humboldt
First published
1854
Format
PDF and EPUB
Pages
116
Publisher
London: John Chapman, 1854; Online Library of Liberty edition
License
Public domain by publication date.

Joseph Coulthard's 1854 English translation of Humboldt's work on the limits of state action, written in 1791 to 1792 and published in full in German in 1851. Humboldt argues that the state should confine itself to security, because individual development needs freedom, and he asks which state actions can be justified. A source for Mill's On Liberty.

What's in it

22 chapters · 69,138 words · free to read here

  1. New and Recent Works PUBLISHED BY JOHN CHAPMAN, 8, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND.
  2. PREFACE.
  3. CONTENTS.
  4. CHAPTER I.: introduction.
  5. CHAPTER II.: of the individual man, and the highest ends of his existence.
  6. CHAPTER III.: on the solicitude of the state for the positive welfare of the citizen.
  7. CHAPTER IV.: of the solicitude of the state for the negative welfare of the citizen—for his security.
  8. CHAPTER V.: on the solicitude of the state for security against foreign enemies.
  9. CHAPTER VI.: on the solicitude of the state for the mutual security of the citizens.—means for attaining this end.—institutions for reforming the mind and character of the citizen.—national education.
  10. CHAPTER VII.: religion.
  11. CHAPTER VIII.: amelioration of morals.
  12. CHAPTER IX.: the solicitude of the state for security more accurately and positively defined.—further development of the idea of security.
  13. CHAPTER X.: on the solicitude of the state for security with respect to actions which directly relate to the agent only. (police laws.)
  14. CHAPTER XI.: on the solicitude of the state for security with respect to such of the citizens’ actions as relate directly to others. (civil laws.)
  15. CHAPTER XII.: on the solicitude of the state for security as manifested in the juridical decision of disputes among the citizens.
  16. CHAPTER XIII.: on the solicitude for security as manifested in the punishment of transgressions of the state’s laws.
  17. CHAPTER XIV.: on the solicitude of the state for the welfare of minors, lunatics, and idiots.
  18. CHAPTER XV.: means for the preservation of the state organism. completion of the theory.
  19. CHAPTER XVI.: practical application of the theory proposed.
  20. About Liberty Fund
  21. The Online Library of Liberty
  22. Copyright Information

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