1806–1873
John Stuart Mill
Mill was an English philosopher and, for a time, a Member of Parliament. A System of Logic (1843) defends an empiricist account of scientific inference. On Liberty (1859) argues for a strong protection of individual experiments in living, on grounds that include the long-run benefits of that protection. Utilitarianism appeared in Fraser’s Magazine in 1861 and as a book in 1863. He is a reminder that consequentialism and individual priority can be held together, and also that the combination is an argument, not a psychological type.
Also in the atlas
- Utility
- Liberty of thought and action
- The subjection of women
Reading, not a syllabus ranking
- On Liberty (1859) — The harm principle and the value of experiments in living.
- Utilitarianism (1861) — Rightness and the general happiness, including a defense of higher pleasures.
- The Subjection of Women (1869) — A consequentialist and liberal argument against the legal subordination of women.
Questions for reflection
- If liberty is justified by its benefits, what happens in a case where suppressing a person would benefit more people now?
Mill sits on the consequentialist and individual-priority sides of this model, and the tension between those sides is part of why he is worth reading.