John Stuart Mill Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

John Stuart Mill (1806–1873) was one of the most influential political theorists of the nineteenth century. His defense in his essay On Liberty (1859) of the harm principle (which states the sole end for which power can be rightfully exercised over an individual against his will is to prevent harm to others) and his rejection of paternalism are cornerstones of modern liberalism.

The son of historian and economist James Mill, John Stuart received a rigorous education. Through his father, the young Mill met utilitarianism philosopher Jeremy Bentham. Mill says that reading Bentham’s Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789) was one of the turning points in his life. At age twenty he suffered a mental crisis that he recovered from after realizing that one needs a purpose beyond one’s own utility and must concentrate on making others happy and improving mankind. A prolific young writer, Mill edited the London and Westminster Review while in his twenties. In 1843 he wrote System of Logic and in 1848 Principles of Political Economy. In 1858 Mill saw the demise of the East India Company, for whom he had worked for thirty-five years. From 1865 to 1868, Mill served as a Member of Parliament.

Mill had a number of theoretical commitments. He was a rationalist, insisting humans decide policy by appealing to reasons and not mere feelings, and a utilitarian, believing actions are right in proportion to the degree that they promote happiness. But unlike hedonists, Mill gave a marked preference to higher pleasures: Quality and not just quantity counts. Mill was also sympathetic to socialism, and his utilitarianism beliefs dictated that society ought to defend property rights only if doing so promotes general utility, which he believed in some cases it would not.

Mill was committed to representative government, by which he meant each citizen takes part in government by personally discharging some public function. He also believed, however, that important decisions should rest on knowledge and not be settled merely by large representative bodies, which he thought ill-suited to make laws. In his Considerations on Representative Government (1862), he proposed a commission of legislation, though the representative body would retain ultimate power.

Mill was also committed to individual liberty, evident not only in his defense of the harm principle, but in his support of the liberty of speech. He believed that even speech expressing dangerous or false ideas should be protected, in part because only by allowing the contestation of opposing ideas could truth prevail and humankind progress.

In defending liberty, Mill criticized the subjection of women. Mill believed there is no essential human nature. Subjection results not because women are naturally inferior but because males use laws and social institutions to exert power over them.

Mill did defend intervention into countries he regarded as uncivilized, such as India. While Mill did not think that the uncivilized were unprotected by the harm principle, he did rule out self-government for them until they were raised to a condition where they would respect the rights of others.

Bibliography:

Bentham, Jeremy. The Principles of Morals and Legislation. New York: Prometheus Books, 1988.

Mill, John Stuart. Collected Works. Edited by J. M. Robson et al.Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1963–1991.

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