John Stuart Mill's Life and Influences
Early Life
John Stuart Mill was born in 1806 on Rodney Street in the Pentonville area of London. As the eldest son of the Scottish philosopher, historian and economist James Mill, he was raised under an extremely rigorous upbringing, and was completely shielded from association with children of his own age. He was taught Greek at age 3 and Latin at age 8. However, perhaps because of his rigorous upbringing, John Stuart Mill was emotionally depressed and suffered from a nervous breakdown for a short period of time.
Mill refused to study at the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge, because he did not want to take Anglican orders. Instead Mill followed his father to work in the East India Company until 1858.
John Stuart Mill and Utilitarianism
It would be foolish to mention John Stuart Mill without mentioning his contribution to the development of the idea of Utilitarianism. His idea was that everyone is equal and deserves to be equally happy. The concept behind an utilitarian government is to maximize the overall happiness level of as many people as possible. The moral value of an action is decided by its resulting outcome. His take on this moral concept greatly influenced his take on economic policies.
Mill's Economic Policies
Mill's aim was the improvement of humankind. His guide was the principle of utility. Mill's ideas were very realistic. Largely socialistic, Mills believed that the working force will generate a great movement of change in the society through education. He emphasized greatly on the distinction between production and distribution. The way goods are distributed depends upon the rules of property and production too depends upon social factors. Mills argued that the wealth is the end product of labor but the distribution of wealth should be determined by laws and institutions. He also helped develop the ideas of economies of scale, opportunity cost, and comparative advantage in trade.
Although Mill supported laissez faire economic policy, he was not consistent in his support. He viewed laissez faire policy seemed to provide the scope needed for individual freedom. And because of his wife, he came to the view that personal development required not just the freedom of the economic market but also political freedom. He believed that government intervention is neccessary for different reasons, such as security, protection, and taxation. Other than that, the government should do the least it could to intervene with the markets. He advocated for inheritance taxation, trade protectionism, regulation of the hours of work for employees, and mandatory education. Education, Mill believed, will build up people who can put the welfare of the entire society before their self-interests.
John Stuart Mill was born in 1806 on Rodney Street in the Pentonville area of London. As the eldest son of the Scottish philosopher, historian and economist James Mill, he was raised under an extremely rigorous upbringing, and was completely shielded from association with children of his own age. He was taught Greek at age 3 and Latin at age 8. However, perhaps because of his rigorous upbringing, John Stuart Mill was emotionally depressed and suffered from a nervous breakdown for a short period of time.
Mill refused to study at the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge, because he did not want to take Anglican orders. Instead Mill followed his father to work in the East India Company until 1858.
John Stuart Mill and Utilitarianism
It would be foolish to mention John Stuart Mill without mentioning his contribution to the development of the idea of Utilitarianism. His idea was that everyone is equal and deserves to be equally happy. The concept behind an utilitarian government is to maximize the overall happiness level of as many people as possible. The moral value of an action is decided by its resulting outcome. His take on this moral concept greatly influenced his take on economic policies.
Mill's Economic Policies
Mill's aim was the improvement of humankind. His guide was the principle of utility. Mill's ideas were very realistic. Largely socialistic, Mills believed that the working force will generate a great movement of change in the society through education. He emphasized greatly on the distinction between production and distribution. The way goods are distributed depends upon the rules of property and production too depends upon social factors. Mills argued that the wealth is the end product of labor but the distribution of wealth should be determined by laws and institutions. He also helped develop the ideas of economies of scale, opportunity cost, and comparative advantage in trade.
Although Mill supported laissez faire economic policy, he was not consistent in his support. He viewed laissez faire policy seemed to provide the scope needed for individual freedom. And because of his wife, he came to the view that personal development required not just the freedom of the economic market but also political freedom. He believed that government intervention is neccessary for different reasons, such as security, protection, and taxation. Other than that, the government should do the least it could to intervene with the markets. He advocated for inheritance taxation, trade protectionism, regulation of the hours of work for employees, and mandatory education. Education, Mill believed, will build up people who can put the welfare of the entire society before their self-interests.
Major Publications
John Stuart Mill published an influential book in 1848, Principles of Political Economy
and some of the applications to Social Philosophy; it became the leading economics textbook for many years until it was replaced by a book written by Alfred Marshall. In his book, Principles of Political Economy, Mill examines the fundamental economic processes on which society is based: production, the distribution of goods, exchange, the effect of social progress on production and distribution, and the role of government in economic
affairs.
He wrote other books that advocated for women’s rights and social reforms. In his book, Considerations on Representative Government (1861), he called for various reforms of Parliament and voting. His book The Subjection of Women attacked the contemporary view of women’s inherent inferiority. He argued that just as the poor needed to be
properly taken care of to be integrated into the society, women needed to be independent from men and thus should not be prevented to take jobs in certain employment areas.
John Stuart Mill published an influential book in 1848, Principles of Political Economy
and some of the applications to Social Philosophy; it became the leading economics textbook for many years until it was replaced by a book written by Alfred Marshall. In his book, Principles of Political Economy, Mill examines the fundamental economic processes on which society is based: production, the distribution of goods, exchange, the effect of social progress on production and distribution, and the role of government in economic
affairs.
He wrote other books that advocated for women’s rights and social reforms. In his book, Considerations on Representative Government (1861), he called for various reforms of Parliament and voting. His book The Subjection of Women attacked the contemporary view of women’s inherent inferiority. He argued that just as the poor needed to be
properly taken care of to be integrated into the society, women needed to be independent from men and thus should not be prevented to take jobs in certain employment areas.
"In the golden rule of Jesus of Nazareth, we read the complete spirit of the ethics of utility. To do as one would be done by, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, constitute the ideal perfection of utilitarian morality. As the means of making the nearest approach to this ideal, utility would enjoin, first, that laws and social arrangements should place the happiness, or (as speaking practically it may be called) the interest, of every individual as nearly as possible in harmony with the interest of the whole; and secondly, that education and opinion, which have so fast a power over human character, should so use that power as to establish in the mind of every individual an indissoluble association between his own happiness and the good of the whole…."
---Utilitarianism
---Utilitarianism
References
1. http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Mill.html
2. http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/mill/section2.rhtml
3. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mill/#Con
4. http://www.rsrevision.com/Alevel/ethics/utilitarianism/index.htm
1. http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Mill.html
2. http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/mill/section2.rhtml
3. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mill/#Con
4. http://www.rsrevision.com/Alevel/ethics/utilitarianism/index.htm