The question of public liability is of great importance both in principle and in practice, and it has so far received relatively little attention from the scientific community, in Sweden and internationally. The fact that the subject is clearly topical is demonstrated, among other things, by the considerable attention that the issue has repeatedly attracted in the media and in the public debate. The cases that have attracted attention cover a broad spectrum and have concerned, among other things, the public sector's responsibility for incorrect taxation, its responsibility for bullying at school and its responsibility when a municipality has not provided the assistance ordered under the Social Services Act. Recently, cases have also been decided that bring into play the domestic rules on public liability in relation to EU law. The study makes the civil law issue of public liability for damages in relation to individual natural and legal persons the subject of a broader analysis with intellectual and philosophical content. The focus is on the grounds for public liability under civil law, and the central theme is how these grounds have been formed and defended in legal, philosophical and intellectual history. In a historical development perspective, influential legal and philosophical arguments are identified that have been important for the question of the extent of the public's responsibility for its actions in relation to the members of society.