Who was John Stuart Mill?
Liberal philosopher and economist. Exponent of
Utilitarianism.
Date and Place of Birth:
20th May 1806, Rodney Street, Pentonville, London,
England.
Family Background:
Son of the philosopher, social historian, economist
and official in the East India Company, James Mil and Harriet Burrowl.
Education:
Educated by his father, James and his friends
such as Francis Place and especially the philosopher Jeremy Bentham.
He was taught Latin and Greek at an Early age and become an expert
economist and logician by the age of 16. James's main aim was to
form a genius who would carry on the cause of utilitarianism and
its implementation after he and Bentham
had died. He was deliberately keep away from association with other
children and did not go to Oxford or Cambridge Universities later
on as he refused to become an Anglican in religion.
Chronology/Biography of John Stuart Mill:
1818: Publication
of his father James's "History of India".
1820: Mill went to
stay aged fourteen in France for a year with Sir Samuel Bentham
who was the brother of Jeremy Bentham.
He studied widely in Paris.
1820's: Mill started
a pen-friendship with Auguste Comte, the founder of positivism and
sociology.
1826: He suffered
a nervous breakdown due to his incessant studying and decided that
there was more to life than serving the public good and increasing
his knowledge. Despite having grown up as a utilitarian turned his
attention to artists and poets such as Goethe, Coleridge
and Wordsworth for inspiration.
1830: Mill meets
Harriet Taylor for the first time.
1830s: Became the
Editor of "The London and Westminster Review", a radical
quarterly journal. He was to continue to write about the need to
use the scientific approach to understand social, political and
economic change. Followed in the footsteps of his father as an administrator
for the East India Company.
1843: Publication
of "The System of Logic" which attempted to describe logic
and science especially as applied to social conditions. He consistently
attacked the "intuitionist" philosophy of William Whewell
and Sir William Hamilton.
1848: Publication
of "Principles of Political Economy" a work which cemented
his fame with the British public and for which he became best known.
He tried to show that economics was not a "dismal science"
but necessary to understand society. He stated that nations should
sacrifice economic growth for the sake of the environment and that
populations should be limited so that there would not be a large
amount of poor people in starvation.
1857: After the Indian
Mutiny the British Government took over the work of the East India
Company in India and Mill was effectively retired from his post.
1859: The publication
of "On Liberty" was surrounded by controversy and disapproval.
Mill and Harriet felt that adventurous and courageous individuals
were becoming too rare in the present ordered and stuffy society.
1863: Publication
of "Utilitarianism" which states that mankind should work
towards the greatest good and the greatest happiness of all people.
1865: Mills's "Examination
of Sir William Hamilton's Philosophy" attacked the protestors
and also provoked controversy for at least twenty years afterwards.
1865: Was elected
Liberal Member of Parliament for Westminster. Became Lord Rector
of the University of St Andrews.
1866: Mill became
the first person in the British Parliament to call for women to
be given the vote.
1868: Ended his time
as an M.P. and Lord Rector of St Andrews.
1869: "On The
Subjection of Women" was published and was thought to be excessively
radical in Mill's day but is now seen as liberal feminism. It states
that freedom is as good for women as it is for men and that the
only way to understand the different natures of men and women was
by fair experiment with women having access to everything that men
had.
(1874):
The "Three Essays on Religion" were published deliberately
after his death due to their controversial ideas that it is impossible
amongst other things that the universe is governed by an omnipotent
and loving God.
Written Works:
- 1843:
“A System of Logic.”
- 1848:
“Principles of Political Economy.”
- 1859: “Dissertations
and Discussions.”
- 1861:
“Considerations on Representative Government.”
- 1865: "Examination
of Sir William Hamilton's Philosophy"
- 1863:
“Utilitarianism.”
- 1869: “On the
Subjection of Women.”
- 1873:
“Autobiography.”
- (1874): "Three
Essays on Religion"
Marriage:
1851 to Harriet Taylor whom he had known for
21 years previously. (Died 1858 after contracting severe lung congestion).
Places of Interest:
LONDON:
British Library.
Date and Place of Death:
8th May 1873, Aix-En-Provence, near Avignon,
France next to his wife Harriet.
Age at Death:
67.
Site of Grave:
Cemetery at St Veran, near Avignon, Provence,
France.
