His utilitarianism was the first efficient substitute for the labored metaphysics of the contract school; and even if he was not the first to see through its pretensions--that is perhaps the claim of Shaftesbury--he was the first to show the grounds of their uselessness.
Laski discusses the significance of utilitarianism as a practical alternative to complex metaphysical theories in political thought, highlighting its relevance in modern philosophy.
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When attacks on liberty are political or economic, it is their motive rather than their nature that changes.
Ultimately, that denial is always made upon the same ground: it is insisted that the doctrines or practices attacked are subversive of the civil order.
The essence of the persecuting position is always that the persecutor has hold of truth and that he would betray its service by allowing it to be questioned.
Each age makes some idol in its own image and sacrifices upon its altar the freedom of those who refuse it worship.
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