John Stuart Mill

John Stuart Mill was born in London in 1806. Although he never attended school, his education was among the most remarkable ever. He was instructed entirely by his father, James Mill, who had him learning Greek at the age of three and Latin at eight. By the time he was 14 he had read most of the Greek and Latin classics (in the original languages), and become expert in widely differing fields, such as history and mathematics. His social and political liberalism had also been shaped at an early age under the influence of his father and his father’s associate, Jeremy Bentham. Regarding his reading of Bentham, Mill said: “…the feeling rushed upon me, that all previous moralists were superseded, and that here indeed was the commencement of a new era of thought.”

In 1823, Mill became a clerk for the East India Company where his father was also employed. He remained with the company until 1858, eventually advancing to a high position. In 1826, Mill fell into a deep depression, which, in his autobiography, he likened to the lines of Coleridge:

A grief without a pang void, dark and drear,
A drowsy, stifled, unimpassioned grief,
Which finds no natural outlets or relief
In word, or sigh, or tear.

After many months he rallied from this depression, aided by his own insight, ‘Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you will cease to be so,’ and by the poetry of Wordsworth.

The woman in Mill’s life was Mrs. Harriet Taylor, whom he met when he was 25. They sustained a platonic relationship for 20 years. Three years after her husband’s death, Mill married her, and when, in 1858 while they were touring France together, she herself died, Mill bought a house in Avignon in order to be near her grave. Mill called her ‘the most admirable person I have ever known’, and referred to his relationship with her as ‘the honour and chief blessing of my existence’. He also attributed to her much of the inspiration and content of his writings.

Although Mill never held an academic position, over many years he frequently contributed articles to journals and magazines and produced many volumes. His philosophical magnum opus was the System of Logic, published in 1843. A great champion of liberal causes and representative government, Mill was encouraged in 1865 to stand for election to Parliament. He refused to campaign, contribute to expenses, or defend his views, and won. He was defeated in the next election, 1868, and thereupon spent his time either in London or in Avignon, something of a recluse, cared for by his wife's daughter, Helen. After a brief illness, he died in 1873.

Some of Mill’s more important works are: System of Logic, Utilitarianism, Subjection of Women, Principles of Political Economy, On Liberty, Utility of Religion, and Autobiography.

[Incidentally, he was also the godfather and mentor of Bertrand Russell]

Taken from: Questions that Matter, an Invitation to Philosophy, by Ed L. Miller, 1993, McGraw Hill