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Mill's Upbringing
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) was an extremely influential British philosopher, who followed in the footsteps of Jeremy Bentham and contributed greatly to Bentham's ethical theory of Utilitarianism. Mill's father was a closed friend of Bentham, and when Mill was 14 he spent a year in France living with Bentham's family. Mill admired much of Bentham's work, but he did disagree with a few of his claims -
A System of Logic
First published in 1843, 'A System of Logic' enjoyed wide circulation and enjoyed numerous editions, with the eighth edition coming in 1872, just a year before his death. In the work, Mill provides a solid methodology for reasoning and philosophy, using math and science, rather than intuition as the foundation for reason. -
On Liberty
'On Liberty' is a philosophical essay published by Mill in 1859, applying Mill's version of utilitarianism to society and state issues, such as divorce, the economy, etc. This work actually began as a short essay written five years prior in 1854. As ideas further developed, Mills and his wife, Harriet Taylor (1807-1858) edited, revised, and expounded upon the work over the next five years before publishing in 1859. -
Utilitarianism
Mill published his book 'Utilitarianism' in 1863, advocating for the application of utilitarianism into ethics. While a lot of his arguments were similar to those of Jeremy Bentham's, Mill disagreed with a few of his claims. Mill disagreed with Bentham's idea that there was no difference between pleasures. Mill argued that there are higher pleasures, such as social or intellectual pleasures, that are to be preferred and sought after more than sensory pleasures.
