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Early life of John Stuart Mill

John Stuart Mill was born in Pentonville, then a suburb of London. He was the eldest son of James Mill, a

Scotsman who had come to London and become a leading figure in the group of philosophical radicals

which aimed to further the utilitarian philosophy of Jeremy Bentham. John Stuart Mill's mother was

Harriet Barrow, who seems to have had very little influence upon him. He began to learn Greek at threeand Latin at eight. At fifteen John Stuart Mill undertook the study of Bentham's various fragments on the

theory of legal evidence. These had an inspiring influence on him, fixing in him his life-long goal of

reforming the world in the interest of human well-being. At eighteen he spent considerable time and

effort at editing these manuscripts into the long coherent treatise that they became in his hands. Mill

made his philosophical reputation with his System of Logic, which he published in 1843; this work re-

vitalized the study of logic, and for the remainder of the century provided the definitive account of the

philosophy of science and social science. This was followed by The Principles of Political Economy in

1848; this defined the orthodox form of liberal principles for the next quarter century. In 1861 he

published his only systematic treatise in first philosophy. This was his Examination of Sir William

Hamilton's Philosophy, a comprehensive critique of the latter's rationalism and intuitionism. So effectivewas Mill's critique that this work effectively dated itself and is now unfortunately neglected. His two

best-known works in moral philosophy were On Liberty and Utilitarianism, which appeared in 1859 and

1861 respectively. These are of continuing significance. His Considerations on Representative

Government, published in 1851, is perhaps now less important than his essay on The Subjection of

Women (1869). Mill's partially finished Autobiography was published, with additions by Helen Taylor, in

1873. She also saw for the posthumous publication in 1874 of his Three Essays on Religion.

Ideas on Liberty

On Liberty depends on the idea that society progresses from lower to higher stages and that this

progress culminates in the emergence of a system of representative democracy. It is within the context

of this form of government that Mill envisions the growth and development of liberty. The key concept

in On Liberty is the idea that liberty is essential to ensure subsequent progress, both of the individual

and society, particularly when society becomes more important than the state. This state of affairs

would be attained in a representative democracy in which the opposition between the rulers and the

ruled disappears, in that the rulers only represent the interests of the ruled. Such a democracy would

make the liberty of the individual possible, but it would not guarantee it. When society becomes free of

the constraints of government, it begins to entrench the interests of a select and powerful few, which

threatens individual liberty in a new way.

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Mill fully accepted Bentham's devotion to greatest happiness principle as the basic statement of

utilitarian value:

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" . . . actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce

the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness,

pain, and the privation of pleasure."

But he did not agree that all differences among pleasures can be quantified. On Mill's view, some kinds

of pleasure experienced by human beings also differ from each other in qualitative ways, and only thosewho have experienced pleasure of both sorts are competent judges of their relative quality.

Mill's major contribution to utilitarianism is his argument for the qualitative separation of pleasures.

Bentham treats all forms of happiness as equal, whereas Mill argues that intellectual and moral

pleasures are superior to more physical forms of pleasure. Mill distinguishes between happiness and

contentment, claiming that the former is of higher value than the latter, a belief wittily encapsulated in

the statement that "it is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be

Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, are of a different opinion, it is

because they only know their own side of the question."

What motivates people to do the right thing? Mill claimed universal agreement on the role of moral

sanctions in eliciting proper conduct from human agents. But unlike Bentham, Mill did not restrict

himself to the socially-imposed external sanctions of punishment and blame, which make the

consequences of improper action more obviously painful. On Mill's view, human beings are also

motivated by such internal sanctions as self-esteem, guilt, and conscience. Because we all have social

feelings on behalf of others, the unselfish wish for the good of all is often enough to move us to act

morally.