John Stuart Mill

Known as the ''most influential English-speaking philosopher of the

19th century'', John Stuart Mill was a Britsih Philosopher, an economist,
ethical and political theorist. He is widely respected for his work on
Utilitarianism and liberty.
John Stuart Mill was born on 20th May on 1806 in London. His father,
James Mill was a philosopher, a historian and an economist and a close
associate of Jeremy Bentham wanted to rsaise a genius. As a result, he
was directed towards intense study from an early age.
At the age of three Mill started studying Greek and by eight he was
learning Latin under the supervision of his father. Mill's father,
Bentham and David Ricardo gave him a rigorous education. This
rigourous upbringign had its intended outcome. By the age of 14, he
became very profiecent at Greek and Latin and in the subjetcs of
History, Mathematics, Logic and Political Economy. Mill had the
opportunity to study at oxbridge but due to his nonconformist nature
he refused to accept Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England. As a
result he was illegible for Oxbridge. In his twenty's Mill suffered from a
mental breakdown. He wrote in his autobiography that his depression
was due to the severe and rigorous education he recieved. His
intellectual persuit left him no time for any emotional growth. His
exposure to the poetry of William Wordsworth slowly removed his
depression. During this time he was also influenced by thinkers like
John Ruskin, Auguste Comte and Alexis de Tocqueville. As a result his
thinking was freed from his father and Bentham's influence and he
evolved as a thinker.
Jeremy Bentham and James Mill passed away in 1832 and 1836
resepectively. After the death of both of his mentor Mill exprecined an
intellectual. This freedom allowed him to write some his most
influential work. In 1843 Mill wrote ''A System of Logic'', in this work he
presented some principles of inductive reasoning . These principles
would later influence physicsts such as Dirac. Mill's book ''On Liberty''
was published in 1859. In this work he tried to estabish the relationship
between authority and liberty. He emphazised the importance of
individuality and criticised the ''tyrrany of the majority''. He famously
asserts that everyone should be free to do what they want if it doesn't

harm other people. Only when harm to other people are exercised can
the authority take action. ''The only purpose for which power can be
rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against
his will, is to prevent harm to others''. Mill did distance himself from his
mentors but he still wanted to preserve some of thier ideas. Bentham's
Utilitarianism was heavily criticised by people like Robert Carlyle and
Mill tried to answer some of these criticisms by reformulating
Utilitariansim. In his book Utilitarianism published in 1861, Mill
defended some of the aspect of Bentham's Utilitarianism and tried to
clarify some misconceptions. Mill summerised Utilitarianism in one
sentence ''Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote
happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness''
He believed that happiness and human well are natural sentiments
that everyone wants. This indicates that Utilitarianism is an organic
system that everyone can easily follow. This book is Mill's most famous
and influential work and continues to make his name.
Mill passed away in 1873 and after his death, Three Essays on Religion
and his Autobiography was published. Mill significantly influenced
British thought and his liberal values continue to shape our society.