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Sarah Lowery

Final Post Installment 2

Section 9 

John Stuart Mill

Continuously being pushed by his father, in 1823 John Stuart Mill began junior work with the East India Company. Following in his father's footsteps, he quickly rose in rank and eventually took over his father's position. Later, in 1826, Mill went through a life changing period that he describes in his autobiography as a "mental crisis". Marked by depression and most likely due to his father's teacher, Mill came to believe he had been "emotionally stunted by his father's analytical training" and that his ability to feel emotions had been compromised. The crisis led Mill to reconsider theories he once swore to. During the time of this crisis he began an interest in poetry, specifically, William Wordsworth. This helped him to find the emotions he felt he was missing. Over many months, his depression began to fade and with it, many of his long-held ideals. He began revising his father's and Jeremy Bentham's work which he now found "limited". He did not want to fight their negativity with his own negativity, so he instead focused on the positives of their work and how they could fit to form a new, better society. After the death of his mentors (Bentham in 1832 and his father in 1836) Mill realized just how much intellectual freedom he had.  

1859 marked the publication of Mill's On Liberty. Here he defends his view that each person should be able to develop in society the way that they see fit. He also mentions his harm principle, which is a principle I agreed with whole-heartedly even before knowing of John Stuart Mill. This says every adult should be free to live their life the way he/she pleases so long as no one else is harmed in the process. He believed children needed guidance from parents in order to be protected from themselves, but this guidance directed towards adults from the government or society in general was unacceptable. He bases this off his theory that greater freedom would lead to greater happiness. The example of his harm principle used in A Little History of Philosophy is a man with no family that drinks two bottles of vodka a day. Obviously, he is drinking himself to death, but the only person he has caused harm to is himself, and that is his right. If the man was neglecting a child or abusing his wife, the law would have a justified reason to intervene. Without said reason, you can tell the man he is killing himself, but you should not physically prevent him from drinking. He also touches on free thinking and free speech. He believed open discussion was beneficial to society because it forced people to question their own opinions. How can one defend their opinions if they have never had their opinions questioned? He believed people should have free speech in all circumstances that fit within the harm principle. As long as their words did not incite violence, they were free to be said.  Another thing he mentions on the harm principle is that offense should not be confused with harm. Just because something a person does/says offends you personally, that does not mean they are not or should not be free to do it. 

                                     

In other works, Mill continues to write on basic human rights. In his 1869 essay "The Subjection of Woman" he writes his opinion on gender equality and women's rights. He is remembered as one of the first feminists. Many people during this time claimed that women were "naturally inferior to men". But Mill argued, "How could you possibly know this when women have so often been prevented from reaching their full potential?" 

Sources: 

Warburton, Nigel. “Chapter 24 Space To Grow: John Stuart Mill.” A Little History of Philosophy, Yale University Press, 2011, pp. 138–144. 

https://www.biography.com/people/john-stuart-mill-9408210 

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mill/ 

http://www.iep.utm.edu/milljs/ 

Original Post: 

https://cophilosophy.blogspot.com/2017/12/john-stuart-mill.html 

Comments: 

https://cophilosophy.blogspot.com/2017/12/pessimism-10.html?showComment=1513202786803#c5296778110582726183 

https://cophilosophy.blogspot.com/2017/12/6-final-hippies-part-2-ability-to-have.html?showComment=1513203538663#c4155868654222527731 

I was never a student who enjoyed learning about philosophers in school. I liked the concept of philosophy, but was always bored by the history. After taking this class and reading A Little History of Philosophy, I fell in love with John Stuart Mill. Many of his principles were things I based my life on before even knowing they were written principles. I never expected to enjoy learning about specific philosophers, much less to discover a favorite.