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that Atheism is false, and tends to the dissolution of society, than
Marcus Aurelius believed the same things of Christianity.”
If even such a ruler as Marcus Aurelius could be so monumentally
wrong, then no dictator, it would seem, no matter how benevolent,
could ever ultimately be trusted in his judgment. It follows, therefore,
that the persecution of an idea or ideals for the sake of the existing
order can rarely be justified, since the existing order is itself suspect.
And, pace Mill, if we can never know for certain if authority is in the
right, even as anarchy must be averted, the only recourse for society
is to be able to choose and regularly replace its forever-imperfect
leaders. But there is a catch. As Mill admits earlier in his essay,
Liberty, as a principle, has no application to any state of things
anterior to the time when mankind have become capable of being
improved by free and equal discussion. Until then, there is nothing . .
. but implicit obedience to an Akbar or a Charlemagne, if they are so
fortunate as to find one. Indeed, Mill knows that authority has first
to be created before we can go about limiting it. For without
authority, however dictatorial, there is a fearful void, as we all know
too well from Iraq in 2006 and 2007. In fact, no greater proponent of
individual liberty than Isaiah Berlin himself observes in his
introduction to Four Essays on Liberty that, “Men who live in
conditions where there is not sufficient food, warmth, shelter, and the
minimum degree of security can scarcely be expected to concern
themselves with freedom of contract or of the press.” In “Two
Concepts of Liberty,” Berlin allows that “First things come first:
there are situations . . . in which boots are superior to the works of
Shakespeare, individual freedom is not everyone’s primary need.”
Further complicating matters, Berlin notes that “there is no necessary
connection between individual liberty and democratic rule.” There
might be a despot “who leaves his subjects a wide area of liberty” but
cares “little for order, or virtue, or knowledge.” Clearly, just as there

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