John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill
1806-1873
Mill is famous for his views on liberty and human rights and the philosophy of Utilitarianism, or "Greatest Happiness Principle", a standard of morality that uses happiness of the greater number of people as its ultimate goal.
Main Ideas
- Everyone has the right to act as he or she pleases so long as the actions do not harm others (the harm principle).
- Free speech
- An end to slavery
- Equal rights for women
On Liberty:
Utilitarianism:
Famous Works
- On Liberty
- The Subjection of Women
- Utilitarianism
Famous Statements
- "The sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection."
- "Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign."
Interesting Trivia
Mill was not allowed to play with children his own age except his siblings because his father thought they would be a negative influence on him. However, the pressures of his deep study led him to have a nervous breakdown when he was twenty. His
wife was married when he met her, and he did not marry her until 21 years after they first met. She was brilliant in her own right and was a great influence on his thinking. She died seven years after their marriage.