John Stuart Mill
20 May 1806 – 8 May 1873
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, and Member of Parliament, one of the most influential thinkers in the history of liberalism. His works, including 'On Liberty', 'Utilitarianism', and 'The Subjection of Women', shaped modern ideas of individual freedom, representative government, and gender equality. He also spent thirty-five years as an administrator of the East India Company.
Lived at the same time
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Life events
Born the eldest son of the Scottish philosopher and historian James Mill.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgEducated by his father with advice from Jeremy Bentham, he began Greek at three and had mastered classics, logic, and political economy by his early teens.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgBegan work under his father in the examiner's office of the East India Company, where he served until the company's dissolution in 1858.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgA period of depression beginning in 1826 led him to temper Benthamite utilitarianism with Romantic ideas drawn from Wordsworth and Coleridge.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHis treatise on inductive logic and scientific method established his philosophical reputation.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgMarried Harriet Taylor after a long intellectual companionship; he credited her as a collaborator on much of his later work.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHis classic defense of individual freedom against social and governmental coercion appeared shortly after Harriet's death.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAs a Liberal MP he advocated women's suffrage, proposing in 1867 the first parliamentary amendment to give women the vote.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHis essay arguing for the legal and social equality of the sexes became a foundational text of liberal feminism.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgDied at his home near Avignon, where he had spent much of his later life, and was buried beside his wife Harriet.
Source: en.wikipedia.org