J.S. Mill: Philosophy in an Hour: Master the Essentials of Utilitarianism in Just One Hour

Philosophers in 90 Minutes #11

by Paul Strathern

Philosophy for busy people. Read a succinct account of the philosophy of J.S. Mill in just one hour.

John Stuart Mill is remembered today as the leading exponent of Utilitarianism, arguing that our aim in life must be the attainment of pleasure and the minimizing of pain for the majority of people. The principle that lies at the heart of Utilitarianism is ‘the greatest benefit of the greatest number’ – an idea that perhaps seems self-evident today but one that was seen as radical within Mill’s own time. This central idea has become the unspoken founding principle of our modern way of life in the free Western democracies.

Here is a concise, expert account of J.S. Mill’s life and philosophical ideas – entertainingly written and easy to understand. Also included are selections from J.S. Mill’s work, suggested further reading, and chronologies that place J.S. Mill in the context of the broader scheme of philosophy.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Biography, History

94 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 25, 2002

About the author

Paul Strathern (born 1940) is a English writer and academic. He was born in London, and studied at Trinity College, Dublin, after which he served in the Merchant Navy over a period of two years. He then lived on a Greek island. In 1966 he travelled overland to India and the Himalayas. His novel A Season in Abyssinia won a Somerset Maugham Award in 1972.

Besides five novels, he has also written numerous books on science, philosophy, history, literature, medicine and economics.

Reviews

[Saman]

به نظرم این کتاب اون رسالتی رو که داشت به درستی انجام داده و به هدفی که مد نظرش بوده، رسیده. هدف این کتاب و کلا این مجموعه‌ی آشنایی با فیلسوفان که به همت نشر مرکز چاپ شده، یک آشنایی کلی با اون فیلسوف و هم‌چنین شناخت نظرات مهمش و ارائه یک خوراک مناسب برای شروع مطالعه آثار اوست. در این کتاب هم ما اون آشنایی مختصری که برای شناخت جان استوارت میل ضرورت داره رو بهش می‌رسیم. با اختصار، هم از شرایط کودکی او آشنا می‌شیم که نکات جالبی رو داشت و هم فرد مهمی که بر او تاثیر گذاشته رو می‌شناسیم و سپس شرح مختصری از آثار مهم او و اینکه در چه شرایطی اونها رو نوشته، موضوعی است که در موردش در کتاب بحث میشه. کتاب شصت و شش صفحه است و برای کسی مثل من که هیچ آشنایی با جان استوارت میل نداشت کتاب خوب و ارزشمندی بود.این کتاب تصویر کلی رو به مخاطب ارائه میده و حالا مخاطب به فراخور نیاز یا علاقه خودش میتونه وارد تصاویر جزئی تر از آرا و نظرات میل بشه.

[#DÏ4B7Ø Chinnamasta-Bhairav]

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To SEE a WORLD in a Grain of Sand,
And a HEAVEN in a Wild Flower,
Hold INFINITY in the palm of your hand
And ETERNITY in an Hour"
~ William Blake ~

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“Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. And between the two my life flows.” Nisargadatta Maharaj

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Form is Emptiness; Emptiness is form.
Form is not different than Emptiness;
Emptiness is not different than form
~ Heart Sutra ~

Like the ocean and its waves,
inseparable yet distinct

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" I and The Father are one,
I am The Truth,
The Life and The Path.”

Like a river flowing from its source,
connected and continuous

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Thy kingdom come.
Let the reign of divine
Truth, Life, and Love
be established in me,
and rule out of me all sin;
and may Thy Word
enrich the affections of all mankind

A mighty oak tree standing firm against the storm,
As sunlight scatters the shadows of night
A river nourishing the land it flows through

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[Theo Milos]

The leading front-figure for Utilitarianism, which was created by Bentham. Today our society (politics) is built on this and liberalism. We want to make the most amount of people happy and satisfied as possible.

We make decisions based on our past experiences, which is called Empiricism. Reasoning is also formed after what we have seen, heard and done. Hence, you can't know for certain that something will happen again. For instance, it was well understood that there were only white swans but then black swans were found, which contradicted the statement.

Our lives are based on pleasure vs pain. Nature have created two sovereign masters that all alone point us ought to do. They determine what we will do and what is right and wrong, and govern us with what we see, face and decides, everyday and all the time. All pleasures are not the same. True pleasure comes via higher spirtual affection. When we indirectly aim for happiness, chances for it actually happening increases. Mill thought that "Pleasure is good. Pain is evil", but I believe that pain can lead to greatness and instant gratification as a form of pleasure can be harmful in the long run.

"It is better to be a human dissatisfied than a pig satisfied"

[Patrick]

I like those little short books , first you can just pick the philosophers you care about and don't have to read a 400+ page if you don't want to .
And then there are always little gems inside which I didn't know before( or may forgotten )

[John]

To be honest, I usually am a big fan of the series--like Strathern’s 90 Minute books, the Penguin Lives, and the U.S. Presidents series--that offer very short introductions to important thinkers writers or statesman. I just think that they accomplish and important function--proffering introductory-level knowledge in a more clear, logically organized, and reliably accurate manner than, say, a Wikipedia article.

So, J.S. Mill in 90 minutes is what it is. It’s not the book that you want to read if you know a fair amount about Utilitarianism or Mill or philosophy. However, Stathern’s little volume is a mostly clear (some of the writing could have been cleaned up at times) and accurate summation of Mill’s biography and of the basic components of his thought. As a result, it is an excellent book if you’d like a primer in those subjects before launching into more serious study.

[Kai Mustakoski]

--- Not a review ---

(just notes to remember better)

Utilitarianism. Jeremy Bentham: pain v pleasure, ethics based on that.

Too simple way to think. Whatever pleasure would have the same value.

Mills says that some pleasures are better than others.

Higher pleasure is one that also contains some pain, e.g. learning a skill v. using drugs

Choose greatest good for the greatest number.

Problems in classifying

[Shahub]

این مجموعه از آشنایی با فیلسوفان که در ایران توسط نشر مرکز منتشر میشه، گزینه خوبی برای مطالعه هست؛ البته در خود این کتاب، برخی آرای فلسفی میل هم به طور اجمالی بیان شده که از طرفی به واسطه محدودیت در بسط، قدری گنگ هست و احتمالا برای مخاطبوعلم، نامطلوب

[Ant]

It’s interesting to read a few of these books to see who the author approves of. J.S. Mill turns out to be one he does. Always enjoyable and informative.

[Ariel]

Concise, fun, organized.