This week, Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced it would stop the sale and distribution of six classic volumes from the great children’s author. Those volumes, said the company, violate its commitment to “messages of hope, inspiration, inclusion, and friendship.” The books include portrayals of people “in ways that are hurtful and wrong.”
Society has long held that activity that damages others ought to be curbed. John Stuart Mill posited the so-called harm principle — the belief that activity that harms someone ought to be condemned or even barred — in the mid-19th century. But Mill refused to conflate harm and offense: Being offended wasn’t cause for sanction of another.
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