More from Obiter's philosopher-in-residence, Gary Slapper, professor of law at the Open University.

This week he looks at the relationship between an individual and the community.

'The greatest happiness for the greatest number is to be had neither from an anarchy of "each for himself and the devil take the hindmost", nor from everyone living in glass houses - pace the good work of Everest, the makers of windows and conservatories.

The lawyer's shibboleth "reasonable" is probably a good guide as to how far the individual should be able to legally resist the intrusion of the community.

The only problem is that it needs a social environment before it can be meaningfully used to gauge anything from legal liberty to a performance on "Pop Idol".

A majority opinion is not ipso facto correct - witness the historical flat-earth believers - but a vibrant democracy is probably our safest instrument of governance.'