title: John Stuart Mill on the liberty of the mentally ill: a historical note.
abstract: The author discusses the quote from Mill's On Liberty that is often cited by libertarians in opposition to involuntary commitment of the mentally ill. This quote has been taken out of context; other statements in the document indicate that Mill excluded from his libertarian credo those "without the ordinary amount of understanding," i.e., those people who would now be considered mentally ill.
mesh_terms: D003134:Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders; D004739:England; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006806:Human Rights / Q000266:history*; D028642:Persons with Psychiatric Disorders; D026684:Personal Autonomy