John stuart mill impact on society

Most intellectual biographies strive to either introduce new documentary evidence about an individual or to interpret existing documentary evidence in a novel way. Nicholas Capaldi's biography of John Stuart Mill accomplishes neither.

John stuart mill biography book reference He distinguishes between happiness and contentment , claiming that the former is of higher value than the latter, a belief wittily encapsulated in the statement that, "it is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. Mill is one of the few political philosophers ever to serve in government as an elected official. John Stuart Mill's Political Philosophy. Print length.

Capaldi, drawing primarily from Mill's autobiography, his published correspondance, and secondary sources, reduces Mill's oeuvre to the influence of his father, James Mill, and his long-time romantic interest and eventual wife Harriet Hardy Taylor. Echoing many of the stereotypes of Mill promulgated by his political opponents, Capaldi's Mill is given little intellectual autonomy and is seen more as the product of his upbringing and age than the great philosopher behind "On Liberty" and other seminal works.

Perhaps the most difficult part of analyzing Mill's life is to come to terms with his own "Autobiography" and in this Capaldi's biography is an abysmal failure. Capaldi frequently fails to critically engage with Mill's image of himself, especially when it came to the influence of Harriet Hardy Taylor on his intellectual production.

Henry sidgwick biography But he was also one of the great poetry critics of the 19th century. He argued that even if an opinion is false, the truth can be better understood by refuting the error. Secondary works [ edit ]. Kitchener, ON: Batoche Books.

Mill was an extremely modest individual, which Capaldi goes through pains to illustrate (), and often attempted to credit his own breakthroughs to others. On the subject of women's rights Mill was decades ahead of his time call for women to have equal voting rights in the midth century. Mill frequently credited his support of women's suffrage to Taylor, but it remains unclear whether she actually induced him to adopt the position or if his respect for her caused him to publicly support a political position he was already favorably disposed towards.

I buy the argument that Taylor humanized Mill and cultivated feelings in him that lay dormant due to an intellectually regimented childhood; however, Capaldi seems to overstate her intellectual contributions to Mill's career.

I cannot in good conscience recommend this book. It is too scholarly to appeal to casual readers or those looking for an introduction to Mill's philosophy and it is simply to rigorous enough to appeal to scholars looking for a critical analysis of Mill's writings.

Jurgen habermas biography Let the opinions impugned be the belief in God and in a future state, or any of the commonly received doctrines of morality. As an aside, by way of illustrating what the reputation of Capaldi's intellectual biography is, let me relate the following. He did not consider giving offence to constitute "harm"; an action could not be restricted because it violated the conventions or morals of a given society. His heart answered "no", and unsurprisingly he lost the happiness of striving towards this objective.

For those looking for an introduction to Mill, I would recommend his "Autobiography" and also his most famous essay "On Liberty". His intellectual roots can be found in the work of the English Radicals especially Jeremy Bentham's writings on utilitarianism and David Ricardo's economic treatises (not to mention the writings of his father James Mill).