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Full Idea
Government is bound to become extremely oppressive where dissident opinions which are within the domain of each individual, a right which no one can give up, are treated as a crime.
Gist of Idea
Government is oppressive if opinions can be crimes, because people can't give them up
Source
Baruch de Spinoza (Tractatus Theologico-Politicus [1670], 18.06 (2))
Book Ref
Spinoza,Benedict de: 'Theological-Political Treatise', ed/tr. Israel,Jonathan [CUP 2007], p.234
A Reaction
One might compare illicit desires, such as those of a paedophile, where it is a crime to act on them, but presumably they cannot be given up, so there is no point in legislating against the mere desires.
| 5754 | You can't control someone's free mind, only their body and possessions [Boethius] |
| 19939 | Government is oppressive if opinions can be crimes, because people can't give them up [Spinoza] |
| 19944 | Without liberty of thought there is no trust in the state, and corruption follows [Spinoza] |
| 19858 | No one should be molested for their opinions, if they do not disturb the established order [Mirabeau/committee] |
| 22972 | Bourgeois 'freedom of conscience' just tolerates all sorts of religious intolerance [Marx] |
| 21848 | Some lines (of flight) are becomings which escape the system [Deleuze] |