Customer Reviews (1)

quite a practical logic textbook.
I think this book is very useful in helping you deal with the practical debugging in the real world. I have learned a lot from this book. To my curious, the available title by John Stuart Mills in many bookstores are only rubbish such as "on liberty". I really can't understand why they don't re-publish this real classics. ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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Including three of his most famous and important essays, Utilitarianism, On Liberty, and Essay on Bentham, along with formative selections from Jeremy Bentham and John Austin, this volume provides a uniquely perspicuous view of Mill's ethical and political thought.

• Contains Mill's most famous and influential works, Utilitarianism and On Liberty as well as his important Essay on Bentham.
  
• Uses the 1871 edition of Utilitarianism, the last to be published in Mill's lifetime.
  
• Includes selections from Bentham and John Austin, the two thinkers who most influenced Mill.
  
• Introduction written by Mary Warnock, a highly respected figure in 20th-century ethics in her own right.
  
• Provides an extensive, up-to-date bibliography with the best scholarship on Mill, Bentham and Utilitarianism.

Customer Reviews (2)

Utilitarian philosophy explained
I read this book for a graduate Mill seminar in Philosophy.Recommended reading for anyone interested in philosophy, political science, and history.

John Stuart Mill, 1806-73, worked for the East India Co. helped run Colonial India from England.Minister of Parliament 1865-68 he served one term.

Mill develops a theory of morality in Utilitarianism.He argues against the group of people who think that morality is intuitive.Intuitionists think that God put morality in us, thus, morality is a priori.Moral rules or principles were programmed in us, we can see these rules, they are binding, however they do acknowledge that on a case by case basis we still need to use them to reason out the ultimate answer for a particular case.

Mill also believes that there are a set of moral principles that we ought to be thinking about.Intuitionists today think that case by case we can reason out what is right or wrong.However, they would be suspicious that of believing there were general moral principles.Intuitionists say it is not up to us to investigate what is right or wrong.Mill would disagree.Mill doesn't like Intuitionists theory because they can't prove their view; and they can't explain why "lying is wrong" as an example.In addition, they do not provide a list of these innate morals we are suppose to have, and they do not have a hierarchy for them to resolve the conflict between two morals when they arise.

Background on essay, written in 1861 came out in 3 magazine articles, pretty scanty which sometimes drives one crazy trying to deduce what Mill is saying.A lot of interpretation is necessary.

Chapter 2: The second paragraph is official statement of the theory.

"The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness."

Happiness=pleasure and freedom from pain.This makes him a Hedonist philosophically.


Higher Pleasures Doctrine- Jeremy Bentham says how valuable pleasure was based on 2 dimensions that we evaluate our experience of pleasure by, intensity and duration.Bentham says this determines quantity in pleasure.Bentham said this determined how much a given experience adds to a person's happiness.

Mill adds a third value to evaluate pleasure by and that's its quality, how good it is.Many don't understand Mill's idea that pleasure has value and quality.Most people think that Mill is really talking about quantity, or they don't believe one can be a hedonist, that pleasure is the only thing that has value, and yet think that there is something more to judging how valuable an experience is than the intensity and the duration of the pleasure it contains.So, they say that one of two things must be going on here.Of course, some people are sure it is one thing, and some are sure it is another.Either what Mill is talking about when you get right down to it is quantity in pleasure and different experiences, or all the different things he says about quality can be somehow resolved into quantity.So that really what is going on is that when Mill talks about a pleasure being of a higher quality that just means that there is a lot more pleasure there that the quantity is much greater.Or, Mill is giving up on hedonism at this point and he is admitting that some things are valuable aside from pleasure.So, when he says an experience like reading a good book or something like that is more valuable than an experience of some kind of animalistic pleasure, that really what he is saying is this experience is more valuable for reasons that go beyond the amount of pleasure involved.In addition to how much pleasure is involved there is also that maybe the experience is more beautiful or more noble or something like that and this gives it additional value.So something other than the amount of pleasure involved gives it additional value.Mill can be a consistent hedonist and he can consistently say that pleasure is the only thing that can have value and yet it is still the case that some pleasures are just more valuable than other pleasures.

Utilitarian philosophy explained
I read this book for a graduate Mill seminar in Philosophy.Recommended reading for anyone interested in philosophy, political science, and history.

John Stuart Mill, 1806-73, worked for the East India Co. helped run Colonial India from England.Minister of Parliament 1865-68 he served one term.

Mill develops a theory of morality in Utilitarianism.He argues against the group of people who think that morality is intuitive.Intuitionists think that God put morality in us, thus, morality is a priori.Moral rules or principles were programmed in us, we can see these rules, they are binding, however they do acknowledge that on a case by case basis we still need to use them to reason out the ultimate answer for a particular case.

Mill also believes that there are a set of moral principles that we ought to be thinking about.Intuitionists today think that case by case we can reason out what is right or wrong.However, they would be suspicious that of believing there were general moral principles.Intuitionists say it is not up to us to investigate what is right or wrong.Mill would disagree.Mill doesn't like Intuitionists theory because they can't prove their view; and they can't explain why "lying is wrong" as an example.In addition, they do not provide a list of these innate morals we are suppose to have, and they do not have a hierarchy for them to resolve the conflict between two morals when they arise.

Background on essay, written in 1861 came out in 3 magazine articles, pretty scanty which sometimes drives one crazy trying to deduce what Mill is saying.A lot of interpretation is necessary.

Chapter 2: The second paragraph is official statement of the theory.

"The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness."

Happiness=pleasure and freedom from pain.This makes him a Hedonist philosophically.


Higher Pleasures Doctrine- Jeremy Bentham says how valuable pleasure was based on 2 dimensions that we evaluate our experience of pleasure by, intensity and duration.Bentham says this determines quantity in pleasure.Bentham said this determined how much a given experience adds to a person's happiness.

Mill adds a third value to evaluate pleasure by and that's its quality, how good it is.Many don't understand Mill's idea that pleasure has value and quality.Most people think that Mill is really talking about quantity, or they don't believe one can be a hedonist, that pleasure is the only thing that has value, and yet think that there is something more to judging how valuable an experience is than the intensity and the duration of the pleasure it contains.So, they say that one of two things must be going on here.Of course, some people are sure it is one thing, and some are sure it is another.Either what Mill is talking about when you get right down to it is quantity in pleasure and different experiences, or all the different things he says about quality can be somehow resolved into quantity.So that really what is going on is that when Mill talks about a pleasure being of a higher quality that just means that there is a lot more pleasure there that the quantity is much greater.Or, Mill is giving up on hedonism at this point and he is admitting that some things are valuable aside from pleasure.So, when he says an experience like reading a good book or something like that is more valuable than an experience of some kind of animalistic pleasure, that really what he is saying is this experience is more valuable for reasons that go beyond the amount of pleasure involved.In addition to how much pleasure is involved there is also that maybe the experience is more beautiful or more noble or something like that and this gives it additional value.So something other than the amount of pleasure involved gives it additional value.Mill can be a consistent hedonist and he can consistently say that pleasure is the only thing that can have value and yet it is still the case that some pleasures are just more valuable than other pleasures.




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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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On Liberty is a philosophical work by 19th century English philosopher John Stuart Mill, first published in 1859. To the Victorian readers of the time it was a radical work, advocating moral and economic freedom of individuals from the state.

Perhaps the most memorable point made by Mill in this work, and his basis for liberty, is that "Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign".

On Liberty was an enormously influential work; the ideas presented within it remain the basis of much political thought since. Aside from the popularity of the ideas themselves, it is quite short and its themes easily accessible even to a non-expert
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Published between 1850 and 1870, English social and political philosopher John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) offers his most sustained analysis of religious belief. Though not prepared to abandon the idea of an overall design in nature, Mill nonetheless argues that its violence and capriciousness mitigate against moral ends in nature's workings. Moreover, any designer of such a world as we experience cannot be all powerful and all good, for nature is 'too clumsily made and capriciously governed'. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A must for educated people.
For someone for whom english is not his native language it is not easy to read. Yet it contains three classical masterpieces of philosophical stature. It is helpful to know that it can be read as a sceptical comment on the proposition made by various philosophers that inspite of the almighty and benign god and the sorrow we see we live in the best possible world. ... Read more

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John Stuart Mill descubrio en los escritos de Auguste Comte la veta metodologica y propositiva del aspecto filosofico en la teoria economica. Asi, la filosofia positiva se convirtio, para Mill en el instrumento principal para hacer avanzar la economia. ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Aesthetics; Ethics; Literary Collections / Essays; Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh; Philosophy / General; Philosophy / Aesthetics; Philosophy / Ethics ... Read more

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Utilitarianism is the idea that the moral worth of an action is determined solely by its contribution to overall utility: that is, its contribution to happiness or pleasure as summed among all persons. It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined by its outcome: put simply, the ends justify the means. Utility, the good to be maximised, has been defined by various thinkers as happiness or pleasure (versus suffering or pain), although preference utilitarians like Peter Singer define it as the satisfaction of preferences. It may be described as a life stance, with happiness or pleasure being of ultimate importance.

Originally described by the phrase "the greatest good for the greatest number". Utilitarianism can thus be characterised as a quantitative and reductionist approach to ethics. It can be contrasted with deontological ethics (which do not regard the consequences of an act as the sole determinant of its moral worth) and virtue ethics (which focuses on character), as well as with other varieties of consequentialism. Adherents of these opposing views have extensively criticised the utilitarian view, but utilitarians have been similarly critical of other schools of thought. And like any ethical theory, the application of utilitarianism is heavily dependent on the moral agent's full range of wisdom, experience, social skills, and life skills. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Utilitarianism explained
I read this book for a graduate Mill seminar in Philosophy.Recommended reading for anyone interested in philosophy, political science, and history.If you could only read one book to grasp the genius of Mill, this is the book to read!

John Stuart Mill, 1806-73, worked for the East India Co. helped run Colonial India from England.Minister of Parliament 1865-68 he served one term.

Mill develops a theory of morality in Utilitarianism.He argues against the group of people who think that morality is intuitive.Intuitionists think that God put morality in us, thus, morality is a priori.Moral rules or principles were programmed in us, we can see these rules, they are binding, however they do acknowledge that on a case by case basis we still need to use them to reason out the ultimate answer for a particular case.

Mill also believes that there are a set of moral principles that we ought to be thinking about.Intuitionists today think that case by case we can reason out what is right or wrong.However, they would be suspicious that of believing there were general moral principles.Intuitionists say it is not up to us to investigate what is right or wrong.Mill would disagree.Mill doesn't like Intuitionists theory because they can't prove their view; and they can't explain why "lying is wrong" as an example.In addition, they do not provide a list of these innate morals we are suppose to have, and they do not have a hierarchy for them to resolve the conflict between two morals when they arise.

Background on essay, written in 1861 came out in 3 magazine articles, pretty scanty which sometimes drives one crazy trying to deduce what Mill is saying.A lot of interpretation is necessary.

Chapter 2: The second paragraph is official statement of the theory.

"The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness."

Happiness=pleasure and freedom from pain.This makes him a Hedonist philosophically.


Higher Pleasures Doctrine- Jeremy Bentham says how valuable pleasure was based on 2 dimensions that we evaluate our experience of pleasure by, intensity and duration.Bentham says this determines quantity in pleasure.Bentham said this determined how much a given experience adds to a person's happiness.

Mill adds a third value to evaluate pleasure by and that's its quality, how good it is.Many don't understand Mill's idea that pleasure has value and quality.Most people think that Mill is really talking about quantity, or they don't believe one can be a hedonist, that pleasure is the only thing that has value, and yet think that there is something more to judging how valuable an experience is than the intensity and the duration of the pleasure it contains.So, they say that one of two things must be going on here.Of course, some people are sure it is one thing, and some are sure it is another.Either what Mill is talking about when you get right down to it is quantity in pleasure and different experiences, or all the different things he says about quality can be somehow resolved into quantity.So that really what is going on is that when Mill talks about a pleasure being of a higher quality that just means that there is a lot more pleasure there that the quantity is much greater.Or, Mill is giving up on hedonism at this point and he is admitting that some things are valuable aside from pleasure.So, when he says an experience like reading a good book or something like that is more valuable than an experience of some kind of animalistic pleasure, that really what he is saying is this experience is more valuable for reasons that go beyond the amount of pleasure involved.In addition to how much pleasure is involved there is also that maybe the experience is more beautiful or more noble or something like that and this gives it additional value.So something other than the amount of pleasure involved gives it additional value.Mill can be a consistent hedonist and he can consistently say that pleasure is the only thing that can have value and yet it is still the case that some pleasures are just more valuable than other pleasures.

In John Stuart Mill's autobiography, he tells readers how he benefited and suffered from having one of the most unique educational experiences known to humankind.His father, James Mill, was personally involved in the education of John and his other siblingsJohn was a brilliant student who read Greek by the age of three and Latin at eight years old.By the time he matured to adulthood, he was extremely well read.Thus, John received an academically rigorous education at home; however, it was devoid of any interaction and social contact with other children his own age.In adulthood, he developed very strong views about the advantages that universal education would have on improving people's characters, which would lead to fostering social change for the better.In addition, he held very strong beliefs on reforming university curriculum to improve Britain's intellectual class.Mill summarized many of his ideas on education in 1867 after accepting the position as Rector of the University of St. Andrews.In his Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St. Andrews, one of the points that he made in his speech was the responsibility that universities had in building their student's characters.In large measure, the type of curriculum the university taught to its students would in part shape one's character.More importantly, the proper university curriculum would ultimately provide student's with the tools necessary to continue to learn throughout their lives, critically analyze, and if necessary become agents for change in society.He thought that this goal was best served in two ways.First, he believed immersing students in Western civilization's classical works especially the great works of the Greeks and Romans was an important foundation of knowledge.Secondly, he also believed that reading contemporary works of literature was of paramount importance to develop the human character.

As an intellectual himself, Mill was especially interested in the development of the character of gifted people who had the ability to develop a higher intellect than most of their peers.Mill's writings are replete with advice as to what knowledge he thought was most worth attaining to develop one's character and intellect.Looking at what Mill wrote regarding the proper kind of education the intellectually gifted should receive in a university, is where one can then start to ascertain what side he would support in the canon vs. multicultural debate.Although I will use key passages from his writings to illuminate why Mill would ultimately champion the supporters of an increased multicultural curriculum for universities, I also find there is evidence in his writings that he would insist that student's posses a knowledge base in the canon.As an example, in his essay titled Civilization in 1836, which was written when he was 30 years old, one finds Mill's early and life long penchant for studying the classics of ancient Greece and Rome."Such is the principle of all academical instruction which aims at forming great minds.Ancient literature would fill a large place in such a course of instruction; because it brings before us the thoughts and actions of many great minds."

I find the influence that the classic Greek cultural had on Mill is most illuminating.Williams found that Mill's experience with the Greeks was largely comprised of his reviews he wrote for his friend, George Grote; on his multi-volume work, Grote's History of Greece, as well as Mill's own translations of several of Plato's dialogues.To say that Mill was enamored with the classical Greeks would be a gross understatement.In a review of Grote's work Mill penned the following about the Greeks."They were the most remarkable people ever to have existed: in historical literature, oratory, poetry, sculpture, architecture, mathematics, physics, politics, and philosophy they made the indispensable first steps, originating speculation and freedom of thought."Mill's interest in the Greeks was in primarily what they had to contribute to present society in the study of politics and philosophy.He thought the Greeks in these two areas had the most influence both on Western civilization as a whole, and was very useful in character formation in educating both the masses and the intelligentsia.In his review of Grote's works, Mill wrote that, in essence, the Athenian democratic model "afforded the mental tranquility which is also one of the conditions of high intellectual or imaginative achievement."Thus, the Athenian society based on liberty would become the historical foundation that Mill would use to defend his own political as well as philosophical views for the improvement of society.

Some 31 years after writing his essay Civilization, Mill's theories for properly educating citizens and the proper makeup of a university curriculum were brilliantly articulated in his Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St. Andrews in 1867.In this speech, he decried the idea of what universities had become."Universities are not intended to teach the knowledge required to fit men for some special mode of gaining their livelihood.Their object is not to make skilful lawyers, or physicians, or engineers, but capable and cultivated human beings."He understood that only people with a well grounded education in liberal arts could become the intellectual nucleus that was ultimately necessary to lead and improve society.

Mill's book On Liberty makes his most passionate argument for fostering a pluralistic society.In essence, he articulated the argument that people needed to have more freedom than they had to develop their characters.Mill's concern was that if a majority of people in society were invested with unlimited power they could tyrannize the minority.Although On Liberty is a major treatise of political philosophy, it is also recognized more generally as a work of social philosophy--more so than any other work by Mill.It is not just about what kind of government we should have and how it should behave, but also more importantly, it is about what kind of society we should have and how we aught to live together.

Mill makes a cogent argument in chapter two of On Liberty that really gets to the essence of his arguments.In the chapter, he questions whether society should censor new doctrines simply because they do not conform to its current norms or beliefs.He says that essentially there are three things that may be true of new doctrines when they are proposed.1) The doctrine might be true; 2) it might be false; and 3) it might be partially true.Mill provides a variety of reasons why the censorship of new doctrines is a bad idea.He believed that most doctrines contain only partial truths but not the whole truth.As an example, when he examined the history of religion he found this to be the case.Although he saw most laudable teachings in Christianity he thought that Judaism and the Koran also had laudable teachings for humankind that were not found in the New Testament.Thus, for the betterment of humankind he believed the best teachings of all three religions should be combined.I believe Mill's real genius as an intellectual was depicted by his impressive ability to find the little kernels of truth in other people's doctrines and synthesize them.Mill postulated that there were few original thinkers in history, and that most ideas that members of society adopt are really the best bits and pieces of a larger doctrine.





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An excerpt:

For some time much has been said, in England and on the Continent, concerning "Positivism" and "the Positive Philosophy." Those phrases, which during the life of the eminent thinker who introduced them had made their way into no writings or discussions but those of his very few direct disciples, have emerged from the depths and manifested themselves on the surface of the philosophy of the age. It is not very widely known what they represent, but it is understood that they represent something. They are symbols of a recognised mode of thought, and one of sufficient importance to induce almost all who now discuss the great problems of philosophy, or survey from any elevated point of view the opinions of the age, to take what is termed the Positivist view of things into serious consideration, and define their own position, more or less friendly or hostile, in regard to it. Indeed, though the mode of thought expressed by the terms Positive and Positivism is widely spread, the words themselves are, as usual, better known through the enemies of that mode of thinking than through its friends; and more than one thinker who never called himself or his opinions by those appellations, and carefully guarded himself against being confounded with those who did, finds himself, sometimes to his displeasure, though generally by a tolerably correct instinct, classed with Positivists, and assailed as a Positivist. This change in the bearings of philosophic opinion commenced in England earlier than in France, where a philosophy of a contrary kind had been more widely cultivated, and had taken a firmer hold on the speculative minds of a generation formed by Royer-Collard, Cousin, Jouffroy, and their compeers. The great treatise of M. Comte was scarcely mentioned in French literature or criticism, when it was already working powerfully on the minds of many British students and thinkers. But, agreeably to the usual course of things in France, the new tendency, when it set in, set in more strongly. Those who call themselves Positivists are indeed not numerous; but all French writers who adhere to the common philosophy, now feel it necessary to begin by fortifying their position against "the Positivist school." And the mode of thinking thus designated is already manifesting its importance by one of the most unequivocal signs, the appearance of thinkers who attempt a compromise or juste milieu between it and its opposite. The acute critic and metaphysician M. Taine, and the distinguished chemist M. Berthelot, are the authors of the two most conspicuous of these attempts. ... Read more

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"A fine new biography," (The New Yorker) finally available in paperback

Now in paperback, Richard Reeves's beautifully written book is the definitive life of one of the heroic giants of Victorian England. A young activist and highly-educated Cambridge Union debater, Mill would become in time the highest-ranked English thinker of the nineteenth century, the author of the landmark essay "On Liberty" and one of the most passionate reformers and advocates of his revolutionary, opinionated age. As a journalist he fired off a weekly article on Irish land reform as the people of that nation starved, as an MP he introduced the first vote on women's suffrage, fought to preserve free-speech and opposed slavery, and, in his private life, pursued for two decades a love affair with another man's wife. Exploring Mill's life and work in tandem, Reeves's book is a riveting and authoritative biography of a man raised to promote happiness, whose life was spent in the pursuit of truth and liberty for all. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

An excellent choice for a first book to be introduced to Mill's thoughts
I cannot imagine the amount of effort it must have required to evaluate all the relevant material needed to write this book.Roland Barthes once quipped that a biography is a novel that dare not speak its name.If I had to name one biography that would make that aphorism less applicable, it would be this one.The second part of the book title might mislead one to think that this is a page turner, but it is not.When a thoroughly written book is written about a thoroughly reflective writer, the necessary exposition dilutes any feeling like suspense.

As the book reveals the flaws in some of Mill's statements, this book isn't a lengthy adulation, but it generally seems to be a gallant defense of Mill.This book sweeps away two of the lingering myths about JSM:the idea that he never said anything aphoristic and that he was emotionally numb.

The flaws in this book are minor overall.I point out that the endnotes and bibliography of the book are far more generousthan the index.I cite this single example:One of the most memorable things that Mill ever said about conservatism (pp 374-375) can't be found using the index, even though the index makes eight other entries under 'conservatism' that reveal nothing as memorable as what can be found on those two pages.I also wish that the book had attempted to show more about Mill's stances on social issues that are still contentious in the current decade (like animal rights.) Unfortunately, the greater number of words are written about Mill's stances on issues that are nearly settled (slavery and women's suffrage.) I realize that the author's aim was to explain to readers how stances that are uncontroversial today are only so because of the earlier confrontation by thinkers like Mill.

I suppose, like all other great biographies, the book's thoroughness didn't end my curiosity but incited even more.I wish I had been introduced to Mill through this book when I was an undergraduate rather than starting with Utilitarianism.Of all the non-fiction books I've read in the past few years, I feel like this one has taught me the most about any person or any age.I wish I could have written it.

There's a superb review of this book found in the NY Times.

Not just run of the Mill
Of late I have been in a bit of fix finding an author whose book I could read from beginning to end.Reeve put an end to this dilemma, and convincingly so!I always gravitated to Mill, but found myself over awed by an intellect that seemed bigger than life.Reeves unravels the complexity of the man by putting his philosophy and persona into discernable terms. He opens a window into the humanity which was the essence of John Stuart Mill, best captured in the revealing loving and tender correspondences with his wife, Harriet.Much too is brought to light of Mill the crusader, taking on the landed gentry for more equitable distribution of wealth, to his much ridiculed stance in promoting full equality for woman.

Mill - the most open-minded man in England!


Although he was a Liberal, don't get confused by his `open-mindedness' when leading Victorian Liberal William Gladstone labelled the great John Stuart Mill. I suspect all students will have tremendous affection for Mill even though they may not care for liberals.

In this short review, I will concentrate on the value of the book for the jurisprudence undergraduate because Richard Reeves has produced the first proper and worthwhile study of Mill for 50 years which will be of great benefit to scholars aiming for a `First'.

The first thing to do is look at the index at the back because the fifteen chapters, plus the prologue and epilogue, give you the essence of the man as a human being whilst some careful cross-referencing with the likes of Bentham and Co. will give you your legal learning and quotes.
Look specifically at chapters 11(`On Liberty') and 12 (`To Hell I Will Go') because Reeves offers some useful twenty-first century quotable insights into our "Victorian Firebrand" and some of his overt political failings such as his opposition to the introduction of the secret ballot! Frankly, I have never thought of Mill as a firebrand as the world he left us with was unquestionably better for his efforts as Reeves acknowledges... and, as he concludes, it still is.

This masterly work gives Mill his proper place in jurisprudence and the wider field for his utilitarianism, described by Reeves as "a word with a divided personality, meaning one thing in common use and the opposite in formal philosophy". What I found particularly inspiring with this biography is the political and historic context in which Mill has been placed because, to understand the value of philosophy and the importance of jurisprudence either as a tutor or learner, is clearly to understand also the historical period in which the thoughts first prevailed, and I am not talking Plato here.

Mr Reeves manages to succeed with his task magnificently throughout the 487 pages and the massive details contained in the notes afterwards.Of particular delight, as a break from the prose, are the splendid series of illustrations and the photographs which firmly place this book at the forefront of both legal and political biography. It is a work which I felt at home with from the outset, written in readable English with the detail needed (and without the footnotes). I am sure that great American, Benjamin Franklin, whom Mill so clearly admired, would agree entirely.

As some commentators have acknowledged, this work is long overdue but it does give us the complexities and contradictions of the man together with his ideals which many of us would like to have if we had our feet firmly taken out of the cemented ground. Will Hutton feels the book comes at a timely moment `when both socialism and liberalism have lost their way'! Hmm! I would not really equate today's Liberal Democrats or New Labour (if it still is under Gordon Brown) in any way, shape or form with John Stuart Mill- Mill was a man of his time just as my forebears were liberals and radicals, whilst I am a radical Tory in the modern David Cameron tradition as contemporary politics continues to be turned on its head ideologically.

I will end where Reeves begins...which is a defining moment for Mill in the 1823 St James's Park walk and discovery of the newly killed baby which led to the sort of behaviour which singles Mill out as the highest-ranking philosopher of his century and someone we need a great many more of today: being a human being, an activist and a thinker.

This authoritative work illustrates that the problems faced by Mill in the nineteenth century have such similar relations today when one reads of his passion for reforms of alcohol, gambling, prostitution (and their lordships), and whose life was spent in the pursuit of truth and liberty, and the promotion of happiness for all. It is a remarkable story and Richard Reeves gives us a new insight into this radical reformer who's shaping of Victorian England has so many messages left still unread now: it is a great read as well as being a great book about a great man -

I am a fan, and you will be, too, when you read the book.

Fine biography of Mill
Richard Reeves, the newly appointed director of the think-tank Demos, has written a fine biography of John Stuart Mill, `the foremost public intellectual in British history'.

Reeves notes Mill's economic egalitarianism, his belief that "the only properly `private' property was the fruit of a person's labour." But Mill also had utopian free trade beliefs, for instance he wrote, "It is commerce which is rapidly rendering war obsolete." He also held, but later abandoned, Ricardo's wage fund theory, that there was only a fixed amount of money available for wages, which meant that collective action to raise wages was self-defeating.

Mill produced the classic, `The subjection of women'. He wrote that in Britain "there remain no legal slaves except the mistress of every house." As Reeves writes, "British feminism has many mothers, but only one father. ... gender equality ... was also a distillation of the major concerns of Mill's thinking: the innate equality of all human beings, the corrosive power of dependency, the triumph of reason over custom, the intrinsic value of individual liberty, and the role of institutions and social customs in shaping character." Mill opposed faith schools, noting that they taught `bad morals: passivity, blind faith, fatalism, complacency and prejudice against other religions'.

Mill dismissed the notion of "waging `war for an idea' as being as criminal as to go to war for territory or revenue ... it is as little justifiable to force our ideas on other people, as to compel them to submit to our will in any other respect." But he was no pacifist, writing that war was "infinitely less evil than systematic submission to injustice." In the American Civil War, Mill campaigned for the North's victory over the slaveholding South.

Mill supported a rational, progressive nationalism, writing, "We do not mean nationalism in the vulgar sense of the term: a senseless antipathy to foreigners; an indifference to the general welfare of the human race, or an unjust preference of the supposed interests of our own country; a cherishing of bad peculiarities because they are national; or a refusal to adopt what has been found good by other countries. We mean a principle of sympathy not of hostility; of union, not of separation. We mean a feeling of common interest among those who live under the same government."

But Reeves' reverence for Mill leads him to reduce his rival Marx to Mill's level, as when he writes, "Like Marx, Mill did not take the side of either the Commune or the French government."

On Mill
A very good look back on the life of the famous public thinker and activist.

Richard Reeves provides the basic information necessary for a modern reader to understand John Stuart Mill's impact on his own age and afterwards, especially as related to the concept of personal liberty and the fight for women's rights. While his unusual personal life (e.g., an unequaled childhood education and a long love interest with a married woman who, upon widowhood, became his wife) is covered by Mr. Reeves, the main thrust of this book is Mill's thinking and actions related to the great liberal issues of 19th century Britain.

One area I did find lacking in Mr. Reeves' otherwise strong effort is the absent of analysis on Mill's direct impact on India given the subject of this biography's long career in a leadership post at the East India Company. ... Read more

Product Description
Subjects: Science -- MethodologyNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The other review says this printing is unreadable.It's not.
Amazon.com apparently lumps the reviews of all editions of A System of Logic in with each other.Most printings of this work look like they've been Xeroxed out of a century-old book, and are thus a huge pain to read.But this one (from The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, published by Liberty Fund, Inc.) is different: the margins are normal-sized, there are no inky blotches, and there's a single column per page.If there's a better printing of A System of Logic available for purchase, I haven't come across it.

Great book, another bad printing
The book itself, of course, gets a full 5 stars.Mill's work represents some of the first fundamental progress to be made on inductive logic and probabilistic reasoning and, as such, underlies much of modern scientific methodology and machine learning.He was also an excellent writer, and his prose is a pleasure to read.

However, be aware that this edition (A System of Logic: Ratiocinative and Inductive, University Press of the Pacific) is a "facsimile" of the 1891 edition, featuring incredibly small type (8pt Times, approximately) in an odd two-column layout.The text quality is poor (by normal standards), and it is quite a strain to read for extended periods.The publisher's blurb in the book claims its goal is to "make original editions of historical works available to scholars at an economical price,"and that the text in this edition has been digitally enhanced.I doubt it.The text looks no better than the 1933 printing I was able to obtain from the university library.While I can see the value of having a "historical" edition, I have to believe that most scholars would prefer a critical edition that they can read without a magnifying glass.

It's very unfortunate that the only two editions available of this great work are of such poor print quality.The other edition (with the purple cover) is even worse than this one, in my opinion, and I had to return it due to cropped-off text on the left margins.I'm also not sure why a "facsimile" needs to cost 40 dollars; this is very discouraging.The text of Mill's work is in the public domain, so you would think someone could offer a good, cheap printing.Naturally, one can find the full text online, but who can read a 600-page book online?Not me.

So, all told, it's a great work by a great author.And I guess this edition is your best bet until something better comes along, although it does a disservice to a great thinker who should be more widely appreciated. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The great defender of individual liberty
John Stuart Mill, 1806-73, worked for the East India Co. helped run Colonial India from England.Minister of Parliament 1865-68 he served one term.Maiden speech was a disaster his second was great success.He was first MP to propose that women should be given the vote on equal footing with the men who could vote.He got 1/3 support, England gives franchise to women after U.S.He was a great Feminist, his essay "Subjection of Women" is written with great passion and prose.It was a brave position for him to take he was ridiculed for it.He favored democracy, and letting more men from lower classes the right to vote, but believed that people that are more educated should have more votes then less educated because they would make better decisions about what government should do.He would have wanted to extend education to the masses, so that all may have gotten 2-3 votes and so on.He didn't think it should be extended to where a small elite could carry the day on votes.The idea was that if the working class, and middle class, where divided on an issue, the people with more intelligence would have the power to tip the balance.Mill thought that people with more education would probably not only be better able to make political decisions, especially in terms of intellectually being able to see what would be best for the government to do, but that they would also be more concerned about the common good publicly then people in general.He was intensely educated by his father James.John could read Greek, and Latin at 6 yrs.; his Dad tutored him at home.Dad thought environment was everything.He was treated like an adult, never played games with kids; he had a very cerebral upbringing.He had a period of depression in his twenties, it changed his philosophy, and he recognized the importance of developing feelings along with the intellect, this is something that he stressed in his work.He read poetry to get out of depression; he became devoted to poetry and became a romantic.He fell in love with a married woman Harriet Taylor, was a platonic relationship, after her husband's death they married 3 years later and probably never consummated the marriage maybe due to his having syphilis.His dedication to "On Liberty" is to her, very devoted to each other.Both buried together in Avignon France where they used to vacation.

Mill as a moral theorist subscribed to a theory we call Utilitarianism.It means---In some way morality is about the maximization of happiness.Whether actions are right or wrong depends on how happiness can be most effectively maximized.I say in some way, because there are allot of different kinds of Utilitarians.Allot of different ways of saying exactly how it is the maximization of happiness comes into morality.Therefore, happiness is clearly an important idea for Utilitarians.Mill has a hedonistic view of happiness, he thinks that happiness can be defined in terms of "pleasure in the absence of pain."What is distinctive about Mill in this area is that he believes that some kinds of pleasure are better than others are, and add more to a person's happiness than other kinds of pleasures.He believes in what he calls, "higher quality pleasures."These are pleasures, he says, that we get from the exercise of faculties that only human beings happen to have.So the intellect, imagination, the moral feelings, these are the sources of higher quality pleasures people use.His view seems to be that a certain quantity of intellectual pleasure just adds more to your happiness, and a given quantity of some lower pleasure like a kind we would share with the animals such as sensation, taste, sexual pleasure, etc.His "higher quality pleasures" in a way echo Aristotle's ethics.The idea of those things that make us distinctly human that are the real key to our happiness, that is in Mill also.It is not as limited to reason and intellect as Aristotle thinks.Mill recognizes the importance of the appreciation of beauty, aesthetic pleasure, and moral pleasure.He frankly owes a debt to Aristotle that he never properly acknowledges, never gives him proper credit.

"On Liberty" is Mill's is his most widely read and enduring work.It is an indispensable essay on political thought, which strenuously argues for individual liberty.He is defending what he calls the "liberty principle."It is a principle that guarantees individuals quite a bit of personal freedom."That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant."These quoted sentences in John Stuart Mill's book, "On Liberty," embody the crux of his argument; that the power of the state must intrude as little as possible on the liberty of its citizenry.In essence, Mill was against using the power of the state through its lawmaking apparatus to compel citizens to conduct themselves in ways that society deems moral or appropriate.Mill thought that people had not only a right, but also a duty to develop their intellectual faculties, which is indispensable to maximize their happiness.He believed that society improved for all its citizens when they where left unfettered to the maximum extent possible, allowing them to use their imagination and intellect to improve themselves.Mill postulates a theory that societies usually institute laws based primarily on "personal preference" of its citizenry instead of established principles.This lack of clarity of opinion often leads to the government frequently interfering in the lives of its citizens unnecessarily.For Mill, there are very few times when the state can infringe on the personal liberty of others.Firstly, the state has the right to promulgate laws that prevent a person's actions from harming others.Secondly, the state must protect those citizens who are not mature enough to protect themselves, such as children.Thirdly, he exempts, "... backward states of society in which the race itself may be considered as in its nonage."In Mill's view, immature societies need a benevolent leader to rule them until they have developed to a point where they, "... have attained the capacity of being guided to their own improvement by conviction or persuasion ..."Mill said this third exemption did not apply to any of the countries in Europe.Mill believed that forced morality by the state on its citizen's liberties was destructive to their inward development, and could even lead to a violent reaction by them against the government.


There are different parts of his defense of this, different arguments that he gives.He has a long chapter on freedom of speech and press.He has some very specific reasons why he thinks those freedoms are important.Always in the background for Mill is the idea of development, and making it possible for more people to enjoy these higher quality pleasures.How do we help people develop their distinctly human faculties, in ways that will help them enjoy their higher quality pleasures?Because for him that is the way, we maximize the total amount of happiness that is enjoyed in the world, and that is the object of morality as far as he is concerned.Utilitarianists believe that maximizing happiness is ultimately, what morality is all about.That does not mean maximizing your own happiness that means maximizing the total amount of happiness that is enjoyed, not only by yourself but also by everybody else as well.

Roger Kimball, in his book "Experiments Against Reality" wrote, "On Liberty" was published in 1859, coincidentally the same year as "On the Origin of Species."Darwin's book has been credited--and blamed--for all manner of moral and religious mischief.But in the long run "On Liberty" may have effected an even greater revolution in sentiment.

I read this book for a graduate class in Philosophy.Recommended reading for anyone interested in philosophy, political science, and history.
... Read more

Product Description
This volume unites, for the first time, Books IV and V of Mill's great treatise on political economy with his fragmentary Chapters on Socialism.It shows him applying his classical economic theory to policy questions of lasting concern:the desirability of sustained growth of national wealth and population, the merits of capitalism versus socialism, and the suitable scope of government intervention in the competitive market economy. His answers to those questions have profound relevance today, and they serve to illustrate the enduring power and imagination of his distinctive liberal utilitarian philosophy.The lucid introduction and explanatory notes clarify Mill's philosophy in relation to his economic theory, and make full use of the most recent scholarship. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

flawed but brilliant book.
John Stuart Mill was almost as unlucky as Karl Marx. Mill was the right man at the right time when it came to summing up Classical Economics. He was both brilliant and well situated. As the son of James Mill he knew David Ricardo well. Mill was also a gifted student. He spoke multiple languages as a small child. Mill famously claimed that "Happily, there is nothing in the laws of Value which remains for the present or any future writer to clear up; the theory of the subject is complete: the only difficulty to be overcome is that of so stating it as to solve by anticipation the chief perplexities which occur in applying it." Little did he know that in a few years the 'marginal revolution' would shred his definitive restatement of Ricardian economics.

Another notable-quotable passage concerns socialism: "If, therefore, the choice were to be made between Communism with all its chances, and the present [1852] state of society with all its sufferings and injustices; if the institution of private property necessarily carried with it as a consequence, that the produce of labour should be apportioned as we now see it, almost in an inverse ratio to the labour--the largest portions to those who have never worked at all, the next largest to those whose work is almost nominal, and so in a descending scale, the remuneration dwindling as the work grows harder and more disagreeable, until the most fatiguing and exhausting bodily labour cannot count with certainty on being able to earn even the necessaries of life; if this or Communism were the alternative, all the difficulties, great or small, of Communism would be but as dust in the balance." Looks like JSM is on the wrong side of history again, but he also noted: "But to make the comparison applicable, we must compare Communism at its best, with the régime of individual property, not as it is, but as it might be made." Fair enough. There are many other notable-quotable sections of Mill's book, though this edition omits many of them.

Mill's book is about the earliest work on comparative economic systemsthat I know of. The inclusion of Mills' chapters on socialism add much to this edition. Given that he was writing in the shadow of Malthus, he does take a rather pessimistic tone at times. Yet his discussion of the stationary state are interesting. On page 129 Mill discusses how the stationary state does not impose insurmountable obstacles to human improvement. It is also interesting to note the degree to which his arguments for limited government involvement in the economy fits with modern economic theory.

Mill was one of the greatest social theorists of all times. Yet he (and Marx) failed to see the importance of marginal concepts in economics. Mill was, however, a much better social theorist than Marx. Mill was able to arrive at some sound conclusions without modern price theory. This book also reveals Mills abilities as a social philosopher. This is a rare example of a book that it vitally important despite being fundamentally wrong. It is important not merely for historical reasons. PPE makes you think more deeply about economics, politics, and philosophy. Few thinkers have been as thought provoking as Mill, and likely few will match his level of acumen in the future.

Great book, but not in this edition
This book gives a comprehensive and readable, if somewhat formally written overview of classical economics, reflecting the state of the field in 1848. As may be expected of a book 150+ years old, much of its content is outdated today. But it's remarkable how well Mill's thoughts about the mechanics of the economy, and how they affect the fabric of society, have aged. It is most instructive to read the book in parallel with a competing, much more enthusiastically hyped text, also published in 1848: Karl Marx's "Communist Manifesto". Mill's "Principles" are required reading for everyone seriously interested in the history of economic thought.

But I have to agree with the earlier reviewer: don't read it in this edition! It's not just the footnotes, some of which were reprinted, some of which weren't. The trouble is that "Book 1: Production", is missing completely. That's a fifth of the whole text! That's the reason I'm giving the book three stars: five for the content, one for the edition.

My advice would be this: Check out the book in electronic form, which is available at the www.econlib.org website. If you like it, by all means buy a paper edition -- but not this one!

correction from argentina
I must be a complete idiot. I finally decided to open this abridged edition of Mill's Political Economy & Chaps on Socialism, just to see what's going on in there. Lo & behold, as anybody with eyes can see,there ARE extensive notes on the text, including an index of names referredto by Mill! However, I wish to reiterate my claim that it is an "awfuledition" for idiots who don't open the book or are unable to read thetable of contents. Why doesn't Oxford provide user guides to explain thesecomplex matters?

Awful Edition
The Oxford Classic's edition of th Principles of J.S.Mill is an awful one. It not only omits complete sections of the work and doesn't mention it in the cover but lacks notes and even an index.

Don't buy it! ... Read more

Product Description
John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 - 8 May 1873), British philosopher, political economist, civil servant and Member of Parliament, was an influential liberal thinker of the 19th century. He was an exponent of utilitarianism, an ethical theory developed by Jeremy Bentham, although his conception of it was very different from Bentham's. An excerpt from A System Of Logic Ratiocinative And Inductive reads, "Truths are known to us in two ways: some are known directly, and of themselves; some through the medium of other truths. The former are the subject of Intuition, or Consciousness; the latter, of Inference. The truths known by intuition are the original premises from which all others are inferred. Our assent to the conclusion being grounded on the truth of the premises, we never could arrive at any knowledge by reasoning, unless something could be known antecedently to all reasoning." ... Read more

Product Description
CHAPTER XIV.
OF THE LIMITS TO THE EXPLANATION OP LAWS OF NATURE; AND OF HYPOTHESES.
§ 1. The preceding considerations have led us to recognise a distinction between two kinds of laws, or observed uniformities in nature : ultimate laws, and what may be termed derivative laws. Derivative laws are sucb as arc deductible from, and may, in any of the modes which we have pointod out, be Tesolvod into, other and more general ones. Ultimate laws are those which cannot. Wo are not sure that any of the uniformities with which we are yet acquainted are ultimate laws ; but we know that there must be ultimate laws ; and that every resolution of a derivative law into more general laws, brings us nearer to them.
Since we are continually discovering that uniformities, not previously known to bo other than ultimate, are derivative, and resolvable into more general laws; since (in other words) we are continually discovering the explanation of some sequence which was previously known only as a

Table of Contents

CONTENTS; OF; THE SECOND VOLUME; BOOK III; ON INDUCTION-(Continued); CifAPTEu XIV Of the Limits to the Explanation of Laics of Nature; and of Hypotheses; § 1 Can all the sequences in nature be resolvable into one law ? "S; 2 Ultimate laws cannot be less-numerous than the distinguish-; able feelings of our-nature - 4; 3 In what sense ultimate facts can be explained S 4i The proper use of scientific hypotheses t); 5 Their indispensableuess ■• 16; 6 The two degrees of legitimacy in hypotheses 19; 7 Some inquiries apparently hypothetical are really inductive 2(>; Chaptek XV Of Progressive JZffects and of the Continued Action of Causes; § 1 How a progressive effect results from tire simple continuance; of the cause ' 30; 2 - and from the progressiveness of the cause - - 3<£; 3 Deriva ... Read more