Mill, John Stuart

Related Category: Philosophy: Biographies

1806–73, British philosopher and economist. A precocious child, he was educated privately by his father, James Mill. In 1823, abandoning the study of law, he became a clerk in the East India company, where he rose to become head of the examiner's office by the time of the company's dissolution (1858). During this period he contributed to various periodicals and met with discussion groups, one of which included Thomas Macaulay, to explore the problems of political theory. His A System of Logic (1843) was followed in 1848 by the Principles of Political Economy, which influenced English radical thought. In 1851, following the death of her husband, he married Harriet Taylor, whom he had loved for 20 years. She died in 1858, and Mill, profoundly affected, dedicated to her the famous On Liberty (1859), on which they had worked together. In 1863, Utilitarianism was published, and his Auguste Comte and Positivism appeared in 1865. From 1865 to 1868 he served as a member of Parliament, after which he retired, spending much of his time at Avignon, France, where his wife was buried and where he died. In the year of his death appeared his celebrated Autobiography. John Stuart Mill's philosophy followed the doctrines of his father and Jeremy Bentham, but he sought to temper them with humanitarianism. At times Mill came close to socialism, a theory repugnant to his predecessors. In logic he formulated rules for the inductive process and stressed the method of empiricism as the source of all knowledge. In his ethics he pointed out the possibility of a sentiment of unity and solidarity that may even develop a religious character, as in Comte's religion of humanity. In addition he introduced into the utilitarian calculus of pleasure a qualitative principle that goes far beyond the simpler conception of quantity (see utilitarianism). He constantly advocated political and social reforms, such as proportional representation, emancipation of women, and the development of labor organizations and farm cooperatives. He strongly supported the Union cause in the American Civil War. Mill's influence has been strong in economics, politics, and philosophy.

See M. Cowling, Mill and Liberalism (1963); J. M. Robson, The Improvement of Mankind: The Social and Political Thought of John Stuart Mill (1968); H. J. McCloskey, John Stuart Mill: A Critical Study (1971); F. H. von Hayek, John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor: Their Correspondence and Subsequent Marriage (1951, repr. 1979); J. Riley, Liberal Utilitarianism: Social Choice Theory and J. S. Mill's Philosophy (1988).