Harvard Classics, Vol. 25: Mill & Carlyle: Vol. 25 Harvard Classics

by John Stuart Mill

Published posthumously, John Stuart Mill's Autobiography is an honest and heart-felt account of the education of the great interdisciplinary thinker and philosopher of the nineteenth century which describes the conflict between his intellect and soul that would result in periodic psychic breakdowns and ground-breaking philosophy. By far the most his influential work, his extended essay titled "On Liberty" tempers his inheritance of utilitarianism with a humanism that would become the manifesto of modern democracy. Also included are three works by Thomas his accessible summary of Romantic interpretation, Characteristics, is a seminal work of literary theory; later published under the title “On the Choice of Books,” this Inaguaral Address is a clear statement of Carlyle’s moral passions; and finally, his essay on the father of the historical novel, Sir Walter Scott, is one of the many works by Carlyle extolling great men and exemplifies his ethical approach to literary criticism.

Genres: Classics

476 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1909

About the author

John Stuart Mill, English 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.

Reviews

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit firstly that I was pleasantly surprised at the shortness of this volume. On the other hand, Thomas Carlyle was actually a quite enjoyable read.

Characteristics was impressive. Most notable were statements like "Unconsciousness is the sign of creation; Consciousness, at best, that of manufacture." Then comments about view-hunting in contemporary literature (which he later applied without that word to Walter Scott). Another worthwhile comment that a healthy person doesn't think about health, while a sick person is always thinking of such.

The Inaugural Address reminded me of Mark Twain, with lots of inciteful and humorous jibes. He pointed out that university taught him to read, so that he could penetrate and master any department that suited himself. He says history is an important subject for everyone. What is beyond understanding in every age, the unknown, underlies all human endeavor. He did favor, even in democracy, like early Rome, that a dictator could be necessary at times to correct the errors of the mass of humanity, which I think might be difficult to control, as it was for later Rome. He found hereditary peerage of value, but did not deny that the rabble might produce genius. And, many other interesting ideas, in particular, education itself.

The final selection, Sir Walter Scott, was the longest and most difficult to fully comprehend. Of course, I had no idea who he was, so there is that. Many pages discussed the seven volume biography by Lockhart. The point seemed to be that one book was sufficient, unless the idea was more to sell books than to tell of a life, similar to some of my comments on the modern trend in fiction, which I didn't realize was long in existence. Quite a bit of text on many other prominent people that Scott hung with, most of whom I have never encountered even in reading or history. Carlyle praised and denigrated Scott's style, or ready-writing, writing a book every year, without much thought into a character's internals, but much ado about their appearance (view-hunting). Apparently, Scott had three periods of writing, lyrical romances, prose romances, and select histories. He became famous in the first period, then sold a lot of books in the second. Critics and readers finally lost interest, which lead to the third period after he was bankrupt.

I found the selections fascinating, but I have no idea of the extent of Carlyle's writings to decide on whether these actually reflect his writings or thoughts.

[Pastor Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Volume 25 contains 5 works from John Stuart Mill and Thomas Carlyle:

"Autobiography," by John Stuart Mill
"On Liberty," by John Stuart Mill

"Characteristics," by Thomas Carlyle
"Inaugural Address," at Edinburgh by Thomas Carlyle
"Sir Walter Scott," by Thomas Carlyle

I enjoyed "Autobiography," by Mill and enjoyed, "Inaugural Address," and "Sir Walter Scott," by Carlyle. The work, "On Liberty," by Mill has some high points and a made notes on several comments. But Mill was a lost soul driven by unbelief and his spiritual blindness shows in his Socialistic tendencies.

Carlyle was also a lost man who fell in with the Transcendalists of the Romantic era of literature. His writing is much more clear and coherent than his friend, RW Emerson, but is void of Biblical wisdom on many points.