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John Stuart Mill: Victorian Firebrand
The definitive life of John Stuart Mill, one of the heroic giants of Victorian England
Richard Reeves' sparkling new biography can be read as an attempt to do justice to this eminent thinker, and it succeeds triumphantly. He reveals Mill as a man of action—a philosopher and radical MP who profoundly shaped Victorian society and whose thinking continues to illuminate our own. The product of an extraordinary and unique education, Mill would become in time the most significant 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 weekly articles demanding 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, for two decades pursued a love affair with another man's wife. To understand Mill and his contribution to his time and ours, Richard Reeves explores his life and work in tandem. The result is both a riveting and authoritative biography of a man raised by his father to promote happiness, whose life was spent in the pursuit of truth and liberty for all.
Richard Reeves' sparkling new biography can be read as an attempt to do justice to this eminent thinker, and it succeeds triumphantly. He reveals Mill as a man of action—a philosopher and radical MP who profoundly shaped Victorian society and whose thinking continues to illuminate our own. The product of an extraordinary and unique education, Mill would become in time the most significant 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 weekly articles demanding 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, for two decades pursued a love affair with another man's wife. To understand Mill and his contribution to his time and ours, Richard Reeves explores his life and work in tandem. The result is both a riveting and authoritative biography of a man raised by his father to promote happiness, whose life was spent in the pursuit of truth and liberty for all.
544 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
September 10, 2021
It always amazes me how the ruling classes of the imperialist core, despite their fear of the restless masses and "the tyranny of majority", still managed to tame them and to ease them into a bourgeois democracy between 1850-1950.
This not only involved the ruthless crushing of the radical alternatives but also the careful construction of an order that could contain the popular classes through higher wages and better working conditions thanks to the wealth pouring from the colonies. But most importantly, such a "cultural revolution" was made possible through a hegemonic campaign that slowly remoulded the political imagination of the popular masses and bought them into an oligarchic system where voting for another different-but-same politician/party meant democracy, regardless of the inequalities in a society.
As a liberal thinker who hated the "bigoted, prejudiced, stupid and ignorant" majority, Mill was one of the ideologues of this bourgeois cultural revolution, but a rather complicated one. On the one hand he was a typical upper class intellectual and a humble servant of the British Empire as one of the well-paid officers of the East India Company. On the face of the great Irish famine (1845-1848), he didn't hesitate to write these words which are difficult to stomach: "We must give over telling the Irish that it is our business to find food for them. We must tell them, now and for ever, that it is their business."
But on the other hand, he stood on the reformist side of the British oligarchy: He demanded universal franchise, including for the women, defended the freedom of speech and dreamt of a kind of "workers' capitalism." He even spoke highly of Karl Marx once when he read Marx's speech to the Council of the International on Franco-Prussian war. But in the end what he wanted was a domesticated working class that won't obstruct the capitalist cog. His desire for "a capitalism with a human face" (its human face being the elitist, oligarchic democracy) eventually became the mainstream after the WW2.
A critical biography of him could be an interesting read. Reeves, however, seemed to be too much of a J. S. Mill fan for such an undertaking. Although his style is quite fluent and his research thorough.
This not only involved the ruthless crushing of the radical alternatives but also the careful construction of an order that could contain the popular classes through higher wages and better working conditions thanks to the wealth pouring from the colonies. But most importantly, such a "cultural revolution" was made possible through a hegemonic campaign that slowly remoulded the political imagination of the popular masses and bought them into an oligarchic system where voting for another different-but-same politician/party meant democracy, regardless of the inequalities in a society.
As a liberal thinker who hated the "bigoted, prejudiced, stupid and ignorant" majority, Mill was one of the ideologues of this bourgeois cultural revolution, but a rather complicated one. On the one hand he was a typical upper class intellectual and a humble servant of the British Empire as one of the well-paid officers of the East India Company. On the face of the great Irish famine (1845-1848), he didn't hesitate to write these words which are difficult to stomach: "We must give over telling the Irish that it is our business to find food for them. We must tell them, now and for ever, that it is their business."
But on the other hand, he stood on the reformist side of the British oligarchy: He demanded universal franchise, including for the women, defended the freedom of speech and dreamt of a kind of "workers' capitalism." He even spoke highly of Karl Marx once when he read Marx's speech to the Council of the International on Franco-Prussian war. But in the end what he wanted was a domesticated working class that won't obstruct the capitalist cog. His desire for "a capitalism with a human face" (its human face being the elitist, oligarchic democracy) eventually became the mainstream after the WW2.
A critical biography of him could be an interesting read. Reeves, however, seemed to be too much of a J. S. Mill fan for such an undertaking. Although his style is quite fluent and his research thorough.
June 5, 2018
A very good biography, but not a great one. It left me wanting in parts, but understandably so, with the breadth and scope of Mill's contributions, if the author had kept going over 600 pages, he probably would have intimidated many modern readers from attempting this book. That would be a pity. My previous knowledge of J.S. Mill was from his contribution to Economic history, as probably the greatest 19th Century econ writer in the English speaking world. I had a vague awareness he was anti-slavery during the American Civil War, and an MP, and wrote many other popular books, but had never heard about him being the Father of Feminism...which just goes to show how prolific his activism was. The Author, Richard Reeves waxed on eloquently about his Mill's role pushing the Feminist Movement, but only spent 34 pages on his contributions to economics. Oh well, I feel like I broadened my horizons greatly. It had one of the best endings of a biography I've read in years, and justifiably so "One of the results of reading history, according to Mill, is to see a long succession of historical characters who have 'strutted and fretted their hour on the stage' and he recorded his 'unbounded contempt for all those lives who make a great noise in their day, and leave the state of mankind no better than they found it'. Mill himself was hardly quiet, but his gifts to the cause of human progress were generous indeed. The world he left was unquestionably better for his efforts. It still is."
September 13, 2008
Yes, I believe JS Mill was “The most open-minded man in England” on reading this work.
However, although he was a Liberal, don’t get confused by his ‘open-mindedness’ when leading Victorian Liberal Gladstone labelled the great Mill. I suspect all students will have tremendous affection for Mill even though they may not care for liberals.
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’). Reeves gives useful 2008 quotable insights into our “Victorian Firebrand” and some of his overt political failings: 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 inspiring here 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.
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’!
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.
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.
PHILLIP TAYLOR MBE LL.B (Hons) PGCE Barrister-at-Law
Richmond Green Chambers
November 1, 2014
Diderot is to have said of Leibniz that "Perhaps never has a man read as much, studied as much, meditated more, and written more than Leibniz" and concluded that "When one compares the talents one has with those of a Leibniz, one is tempted to throw away one's books and go die quietly in the dark of some forgotten corner." I contend the same can be said of J.S. Mill. Subject to an absolutely torturous educational regime by his father (He had read Plato in the original Greek while he was 6 years old), Mill would emerge as an absolute genius- if we are to define genius as Carlyle did as "energy"- who would eloquently express his (radical) ideas on feminism, individuality, liberty, marriage, etc. Reeves's biography is an excellent study that not only tells of the life of Mill, but also explains his theory with a generous sprinkling of Mill's own words.
October 23, 2008
I feel diminished after reading this tremendous book which is a biography of the life and thinking of a colossus. A liberal it is Liberty and Feminism which mark him out but there was so much more to the man.
February 26, 2010
This biography is the only work on the subject I have read which brings out the warm humanity of J.S. Mill (as opposed to the austere dry Victorian and Utilitarian stereotype most people have) which underlies his Liberalism and advocacy of the franchise for women.
February 1, 2018
An excellent biography of one of my favorite philosophers, sympathetic but astutely critical, revealing, and insightful.
March 17, 2009
I found Mill to be less firebrand and more Victorian, and thus only made it a quarter of the way through. Bentham sounded like a real character, though.
May 22, 2010
filling in a great gap in my knowledge of Victorian thought and politics and history
April 2, 2023
Even if it's a little too long and detailed, this is an excellent biography of one of my favorite thinkers that brings out both the man and the ideas. Often inaccurately portrayed as a cold rationalist, Mill was actually a passionate and engaged public intellectual and politician, championing a variety of causes and setting down statement of liberalism that have endured for 150 years. Reeves stressed Mill's omnivorous intellectual nature and his political work alongside his ideas.
Mill is obviously a liberal, but one of the valuable things about this book is how Reeves shows both the conservative and radical tendencies of Mill. Mill was ironically more conservative in his younger days. He always had a hint of caution about scrapping old conventions and traditions that tempered his political views, which tended to the very progressive. He appreciated the importance of moral education and foundations for individuals; in fact, his stress on individual freedom meant that he probably had to put even more emphasis on moral modeling because he was so against coercing people in any way. Probably his most conservative position was his skepticism of the common man, whom he believed could be dangerous if given too much power and who might be the source of Mill's loathed "tyranny of the majority."
Reeves argues that Mill was a liberal first and a democrat second; Mill believed that the purpose of the state was in large part to carve out space for the flourishing, choice, and expression of the individual against both the tyranny of government and the despotism of custom, i.e. the pressure of the remainder of society to conform. Democracy in an unfettered form could be a threat to this individual flourishing or "eccentricity," a concept he really loved. In a way, Mill presaged not just modern liberal attitudes towards free speech/expression but the the post-1960s emphasis on self-expression and authenticity. He believed that the space to be different was essential not just for human happiness but for the growth of society as a whole. Above all, Mill was a champion of the individual and of pluralism, although not necessarily individualism as a self-centered philosophy a la Ayn Rand and modern libertarians. He believed in an active state that persuaded and shaped but did not force or coerce other than to protect the rights of individuals.
However, while Mill was no revolutionary, he was radical on many issues. Certainly his feminism, especially the advocacy of women's suffrage and marriage as a partnership of equals, was way ahead of his time. Mill worked for the British East India Company but also criticized British imperial abuses, including leading a somewhat quixotic campaign against the British Governor who carried out the brutal suppression of a rebellion in Jamaica. He supported land reform in Ireland, the Union in the Civil War (when much of the British elite was pro-Southern), educational reform, the enfranchisement of the working class, taxation of inheritance, the stripping of royal titles, and other forward-thinking causes.
I also found myself liking and relating to Mill. He was child-free, as am I. His core relationship with Harriet Taylor was a partnership of equals, full of mental stimulation, which is what I'm lucky enough to have. He had a brief period as an MP but was more comfortable in reading, writing, and debate; he preferred a quieter life that was nonetheless extremely productive. His last words "You know that I have done my work," spoken to his sister, really spoke to me: my job is my vocation, and I'd love to make a fraction of a difference in the world as what Mill made.
This is a good book but it isn't for everyone. It's about 100 pages too long, with too much detail about every single issue Mill engaged with and all of his personal relationships. I'm super into the history of liberalism and have always been an admirer of Mill. If you're into that kind of stuff, you would like this book, but it might be too "inside baseball" for others.
Mill is obviously a liberal, but one of the valuable things about this book is how Reeves shows both the conservative and radical tendencies of Mill. Mill was ironically more conservative in his younger days. He always had a hint of caution about scrapping old conventions and traditions that tempered his political views, which tended to the very progressive. He appreciated the importance of moral education and foundations for individuals; in fact, his stress on individual freedom meant that he probably had to put even more emphasis on moral modeling because he was so against coercing people in any way. Probably his most conservative position was his skepticism of the common man, whom he believed could be dangerous if given too much power and who might be the source of Mill's loathed "tyranny of the majority."
Reeves argues that Mill was a liberal first and a democrat second; Mill believed that the purpose of the state was in large part to carve out space for the flourishing, choice, and expression of the individual against both the tyranny of government and the despotism of custom, i.e. the pressure of the remainder of society to conform. Democracy in an unfettered form could be a threat to this individual flourishing or "eccentricity," a concept he really loved. In a way, Mill presaged not just modern liberal attitudes towards free speech/expression but the the post-1960s emphasis on self-expression and authenticity. He believed that the space to be different was essential not just for human happiness but for the growth of society as a whole. Above all, Mill was a champion of the individual and of pluralism, although not necessarily individualism as a self-centered philosophy a la Ayn Rand and modern libertarians. He believed in an active state that persuaded and shaped but did not force or coerce other than to protect the rights of individuals.
However, while Mill was no revolutionary, he was radical on many issues. Certainly his feminism, especially the advocacy of women's suffrage and marriage as a partnership of equals, was way ahead of his time. Mill worked for the British East India Company but also criticized British imperial abuses, including leading a somewhat quixotic campaign against the British Governor who carried out the brutal suppression of a rebellion in Jamaica. He supported land reform in Ireland, the Union in the Civil War (when much of the British elite was pro-Southern), educational reform, the enfranchisement of the working class, taxation of inheritance, the stripping of royal titles, and other forward-thinking causes.
I also found myself liking and relating to Mill. He was child-free, as am I. His core relationship with Harriet Taylor was a partnership of equals, full of mental stimulation, which is what I'm lucky enough to have. He had a brief period as an MP but was more comfortable in reading, writing, and debate; he preferred a quieter life that was nonetheless extremely productive. His last words "You know that I have done my work," spoken to his sister, really spoke to me: my job is my vocation, and I'd love to make a fraction of a difference in the world as what Mill made.
This is a good book but it isn't for everyone. It's about 100 pages too long, with too much detail about every single issue Mill engaged with and all of his personal relationships. I'm super into the history of liberalism and have always been an admirer of Mill. If you're into that kind of stuff, you would like this book, but it might be too "inside baseball" for others.
December 1, 2023
Mill came to my attention when I read a biography of Mary Wollstonecraft the 18th century feminist, wife of radical philosopher William Godwin and mother of Mary Shelly the author of Frankenstein.
I have read a number of Reeve's biographies, specifically one on Nixon and another on Reagan. Reeves is thorough and orderly when he takes his reader through the life of his subject.
Mill is fascinating and this biography promptly me to think about the issues Mill spoke to through his books, articles and public presentations. Those issues are still very live today which made this book so much more valuable. He displayed the courage of one who has thought deeply and rationally about major societal issues. While his solutions where often unrealistic the core of his beliefs were almost always logical and (from my perspective) right. A staunch defender and advocate for the liberty of the individual and the responsibility that comes to an individual who possesses liberty. These core tenants led him to be an early progressive voice for educating everyone (yes women and the poor) because you can't exercise take responsibility for your life without the tools to think well. The equality of women and the rights those who were nonwhite Non Europeans led him to fight for just divorce laws and to support the North the American Civil War.
"What is now (mid 1800s) called the nature of women is an eminently artificial thing - the result of forced repression in some directions, unnatural stimulation in others .... It may be asserted without scruple, that no other class of dependents have their character so entirely distorted from its natural proportions by their relations with their masters"
Women can't have liberty and take responsibility if they are the virtual slaves of society and their husbands.
I have read a number of Reeve's biographies, specifically one on Nixon and another on Reagan. Reeves is thorough and orderly when he takes his reader through the life of his subject.
Mill is fascinating and this biography promptly me to think about the issues Mill spoke to through his books, articles and public presentations. Those issues are still very live today which made this book so much more valuable. He displayed the courage of one who has thought deeply and rationally about major societal issues. While his solutions where often unrealistic the core of his beliefs were almost always logical and (from my perspective) right. A staunch defender and advocate for the liberty of the individual and the responsibility that comes to an individual who possesses liberty. These core tenants led him to be an early progressive voice for educating everyone (yes women and the poor) because you can't exercise take responsibility for your life without the tools to think well. The equality of women and the rights those who were nonwhite Non Europeans led him to fight for just divorce laws and to support the North the American Civil War.
"What is now (mid 1800s) called the nature of women is an eminently artificial thing - the result of forced repression in some directions, unnatural stimulation in others .... It may be asserted without scruple, that no other class of dependents have their character so entirely distorted from its natural proportions by their relations with their masters"
Women can't have liberty and take responsibility if they are the virtual slaves of society and their husbands.
November 25, 2023
i am once again reminded that john stuart mill is one of my favorite historical figures ever and i am so mad that he’s been co-opted into some sort of extreme libertarian figure when really he was deeply concerned with the well-being of society as a whole and spent a lifetime working to leave the world better than he found it!!! reeves clearly admires him and does a great job presenting him through an honest and sympathetic lens without ever overlooking the ways he fell short of his own ideals or times he misunderstood or mischaracterized the reality of a given social issue, and overall the book focuses on examining the evolution of mill’s intellectual and political thought and work throughout the whole of his life. it was really long and a little dry in some places (as you’d expect from a 500 page biography of a 19th century philosopher) but i really liked the portrait it paints of mill as a brilliant but also deeply passionate and emotionally engaged man who did the work he did because he thought it could make the world better for everyone, and i think mill’s dry wit and subtle humor really shines through in reeves’s narrative in a way that actually made me laugh aloud a few times while reading. also how obvious it is mill has a touch of the tism through this whole book is just very funny and relatable 8/10 would read again
May 18, 2019
I have had a man-crush on John Stuart Mill since my college days reading his output. The book is delicious, hated to see it end. It puts Mill in his Victorian context. His radical advocacy for individual freedom is purposeful - for the individual to fully develop their potential (including civic potential) rather than a libertarian hedonism. As a 61 year old man, I was frequently surprised at just how closely Mill's thinking on several subjects mirrored my own, but I guess I shouldn't be - I did read him closely in college and I've always been impressed with his depth of thought.
May 22, 2024
The author puts Mill's works into the context of his personality and thoroughly explains the merits of them without losing sight of Mill's personal life, which is impressive especially given how much space he takes to discuss On Liberty. Excellent excellent overview of an early progressive icon and worth a look for any like-minded folks with a taste for history.
January 13, 2019
Detailed and interesting biography. The writing can at times get tedious but it often grabs you back in with some exhilarating scenes.
to-keep-reference
June 15, 2022Sen recomienda este libro en esta charla.
January 7, 2026
John Stuart Mill should be better known in society. Ahead of his times on economic, religious, and gender issues, he deserves to be a progressive icon.
July 3, 2018
I enjoy reading biographies: its a really easy way to understand History too and the great people of the past come to life. JS Mill's work is ubiquitous in ways that we take for granted. Its instructive to read about his life, the extraordinary influence he has had and what influenced him.
October 24, 2015
A brilliant book that brings to life Mill's life as a philosopher and activist. Reeves gives a vivid account of Mill's life, concentrating on the contemporaries that influenced his thoughts, the intellectual development of his liberalism, and his activism within and outside of parliament.
What I really enjoyed was the Mill that Reeves brought to life: not an armchair philosopher, but a man who cared deeply about the injustices he saw (the plight of the Irish, inequality of the sexes, brutality in the colonies etc.). Mill was active in voluntary associations, correspondence, public debates, op-ed writing and (while an MP) parliamentary debates, all in pursuit of liberal aims*. It was interesting to see how this activism damaged the assessment of his philosophical work during his lifetime, and that Mill earned a reputation as a 'ruffian' and 'partisan'. I certainly got the sense that for Mill failing to live out his values would have been a sign of an impoverished character and intellect, whatever the worth of the philosophical ideas he developed.
Also of interest is the well-sketched out journey of Mill from Benthamite utilitarian to a liberal very much aware of the dangers of revolution and the utility of social institutions. Though my reading of Mill is rather limited, I had not realised there was a 'Burkean' element to his thinking. The amount of research Reeves did is most apparent in this vein, where the sources of different ideas and notions that guided this intellectual journey are fleshed out (without becoming tedious). Mill's thinking on socialism and collectivism is also fleshed out in a clear way.
Finally, the book does a great job in showing Mill's principle fear was the suffocating rigidity of custom and culture, rather than an over-powered state. It is hard to view Mill as concerned principally with the size of government after reading this book.
Overall, a great read on a great mind that hopefully inspires any reader to live out and promote the liberal values Mill espoused.
* Reeves does point out where Mill's conclusions were rather out of step with his liberalism, or at least contemporary liberal views (opposition to the secret ballot etc.).
What I really enjoyed was the Mill that Reeves brought to life: not an armchair philosopher, but a man who cared deeply about the injustices he saw (the plight of the Irish, inequality of the sexes, brutality in the colonies etc.). Mill was active in voluntary associations, correspondence, public debates, op-ed writing and (while an MP) parliamentary debates, all in pursuit of liberal aims*. It was interesting to see how this activism damaged the assessment of his philosophical work during his lifetime, and that Mill earned a reputation as a 'ruffian' and 'partisan'. I certainly got the sense that for Mill failing to live out his values would have been a sign of an impoverished character and intellect, whatever the worth of the philosophical ideas he developed.
Also of interest is the well-sketched out journey of Mill from Benthamite utilitarian to a liberal very much aware of the dangers of revolution and the utility of social institutions. Though my reading of Mill is rather limited, I had not realised there was a 'Burkean' element to his thinking. The amount of research Reeves did is most apparent in this vein, where the sources of different ideas and notions that guided this intellectual journey are fleshed out (without becoming tedious). Mill's thinking on socialism and collectivism is also fleshed out in a clear way.
Finally, the book does a great job in showing Mill's principle fear was the suffocating rigidity of custom and culture, rather than an over-powered state. It is hard to view Mill as concerned principally with the size of government after reading this book.
Overall, a great read on a great mind that hopefully inspires any reader to live out and promote the liberal values Mill espoused.
* Reeves does point out where Mill's conclusions were rather out of step with his liberalism, or at least contemporary liberal views (opposition to the secret ballot etc.).
March 18, 2010
This is pretty much everything you could ask for in a biography of Mill. It covers the whole spectrum, from his personal life to his work to the intellectual and political contexts in which he did it, and does so with sympathy and verve. You could do much worse for a history of the progress and development of liberal reform in Victorian England, which is appropriate since his ideas were so central to it. What's unique here is that the author makes it clear that Mill was much more than a man of ideas, and that his was a throughgoingly humanist life, in which he was willing to put his fortune and reputation on the line to fight for his beliefs, even when the times were not yet ripe and the odds weren't in his favor.
The one strange exception to his universal generosity and esteem was his family, and it was a bit jarring to learn that someone who I admire so much and who seemed so far ahead of his time on so many issues, could be so callous to some of the people closest to him in life, albeit for complicated reasons arising from his nonconformist beliefs and his famed relationship with Harriet Taylor. That's a good lesson though, and reinforces the need to judge the personal, political, and intellectual spheres separately and on their own merits.
The one strange exception to his universal generosity and esteem was his family, and it was a bit jarring to learn that someone who I admire so much and who seemed so far ahead of his time on so many issues, could be so callous to some of the people closest to him in life, albeit for complicated reasons arising from his nonconformist beliefs and his famed relationship with Harriet Taylor. That's a good lesson though, and reinforces the need to judge the personal, political, and intellectual spheres separately and on their own merits.
January 20, 2011
John Stuart Mill is an inspiring figure, and this is a first-rate biography. I knew he was a major 19th century public intellectual, but I had no idea what an intriguing personality he was as well. Well worth reading.
Want to read
January 15, 2012Very slow progress I'm afraid.
April 8, 2017
“The Saturday Review accused Mill of being, on subjects such as slavery, ‘an obstinate fanatic’ and said his ‘delusion’ about the equality of the sexes cast doubt on his authority.”
The past is a foreign country
“The average life expectancy for a child born to a working-class family in Manchester in 1837 was only seventeen years, compared to thirty-eight in rural Rutland.” (This is taken from the 1842 Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain. I haven’t looked into the accuracy of the figures.)
“Fabre had become a good friend, especially after he had lost his teaching post for the crime of teaching biology to girls.”
“Robert Southey, for example, the poet with whom Mill had taken tea, had been ‘elected’ to represent the seat of Downton, without his knowledge, while he was abroad on holiday.”
Doing things differently there
“Mill insisted that ‘ages are no more infallible than individuals; every age having held opinions which subsequent ages have deemed not only false but absurd; and it is as certain that many opinions, now general, will be rejected by future ages’.”
Intuitionism was “an instrument for consecrating all deep-seated prejudices”. Interestingly, Bentham’s utilitarianism led him to write (but not publish – see Mill’s comments about the restraints on mental freedom) in favour of the legalization of homosexuality.
“In his correspondence and journals, Mill himself made a number of comments on the capacities of various races […], which to modern ears sound straightforwardly racist. […] But Mill never deviated from his conviction that any observed differences in racial or national character were wholly the result of variations in historical and social context, and he was scathing, too, about the qualities of the supposedly superior races.”
“Alexander Bain spoke for many when he said that Mill’s insistence on ‘the Helvetius doctrine of the natural equality of human beings in regard of capacity’ was ‘the first of his greatest theoretical errors as a thinker’, and an area in which ‘Mill never accommodated his views […] to the facts'.”
“Bain complained incredulously of Mill that ‘he grants that women are physically inferior, but seems to think that this does not affect their mental powers’, but Mill refused to link physical attributes to intellectual stature.”
Mill appears to have converted (or at least played an important role in converting) Florence Nightingale to feminism. Efforts with other people and subjects were not always as successful:
“Eyre’s stock steadily rose until, in 1871, Gladstone’s government agreed to pay his legal expenses. ‘After this,’ raged Mill, ‘I shall henceforth wish for Tory government.’ He should have been more careful in his wishes: a few years later Disraeli’s administration also reinstated Eyre’s pension.”
Mill’s views on the subject resulted in him being described as having “gone ****” and being “nuts upon ******s”.
Everyone is human
Mill had various beliefs that still seem odd. He also fell out with his whole family for no apparent reason.
“Mill’s doctor was none the less persuaded that six months away from India House was required. On the evidence available, it seems as if the greatest British philosopher of the nineteenth century overstated his physical symptoms in order to get a sicknote and slip off to Italy with his mistress.”
Libertarian credentials
“In this country, however, the effective restraints on mental freedom proceed much less from the law or the government, than from the intolerant temper of the national mind; arising no longer from even as respectable a source as bigotry or fanaticism, but rather from the general habit, both in opinion and conduct, of making adherence to custom the rule of life, and enforcing it, by social penalties, against all persons who, without a party to back them, assert their individual independence.”
“The social reformers of the age worried about how to get workers more food, money, leisure and health. Mill worried about how to get them more freedom. […]
“For Mill, the solution was to instil in the Irish peasantry a sense of responsibility, not dependency. What was needed was a reform which ‘must be something operating upon the minds of the people, and not merely upon their stomachs. [...] They must have something to strive for, some rational ambition’.”
“To facilitate a much greater spread of wealth, Mill proposed a financial cap on the amount any individual could receive in the form of inheritance.”
“While Mill recognized that an over-generous system could reduce work effort, he also saw that the absence of help could have a similar effect. […] ‘It is even more fatal to exertion to have no hope of succeeding by it, than to be assured of succeeding without it.”
And another thing
If you ask people to name some British philosophers, you’re likely to get a blank look. If you get an answer, obvious suggestions include Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill and Bertrand Russell. The connection between the first two is relatively well known, but it turns out that Russell was Mill’s godson.
“On a minor level, it seems unlikely that without Harriet at his side, Mill would have spent so many hours making the language of the third edition of the Principles more gender-neutral, replacing hundreds of occurrences of ‘his’ with ‘their’.”
“All [Gladstone’s] copies of Mill’s books were in fact heavily underlined and scribbled on, and his reading diary demonstrates that he would typically consult Mill’s work before making economic policy decisions.”
“[Mill] even presented directly opposing petitions, such as one to restrict the sale of alcohol on Sundays and another to remove such restrictions.”
The past is a foreign country
“The average life expectancy for a child born to a working-class family in Manchester in 1837 was only seventeen years, compared to thirty-eight in rural Rutland.” (This is taken from the 1842 Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain. I haven’t looked into the accuracy of the figures.)
“Fabre had become a good friend, especially after he had lost his teaching post for the crime of teaching biology to girls.”
“Robert Southey, for example, the poet with whom Mill had taken tea, had been ‘elected’ to represent the seat of Downton, without his knowledge, while he was abroad on holiday.”
Doing things differently there
“Mill insisted that ‘ages are no more infallible than individuals; every age having held opinions which subsequent ages have deemed not only false but absurd; and it is as certain that many opinions, now general, will be rejected by future ages’.”
Intuitionism was “an instrument for consecrating all deep-seated prejudices”. Interestingly, Bentham’s utilitarianism led him to write (but not publish – see Mill’s comments about the restraints on mental freedom) in favour of the legalization of homosexuality.
“In his correspondence and journals, Mill himself made a number of comments on the capacities of various races […], which to modern ears sound straightforwardly racist. […] But Mill never deviated from his conviction that any observed differences in racial or national character were wholly the result of variations in historical and social context, and he was scathing, too, about the qualities of the supposedly superior races.”
“Alexander Bain spoke for many when he said that Mill’s insistence on ‘the Helvetius doctrine of the natural equality of human beings in regard of capacity’ was ‘the first of his greatest theoretical errors as a thinker’, and an area in which ‘Mill never accommodated his views […] to the facts'.”
“Bain complained incredulously of Mill that ‘he grants that women are physically inferior, but seems to think that this does not affect their mental powers’, but Mill refused to link physical attributes to intellectual stature.”
Mill appears to have converted (or at least played an important role in converting) Florence Nightingale to feminism. Efforts with other people and subjects were not always as successful:
“Eyre’s stock steadily rose until, in 1871, Gladstone’s government agreed to pay his legal expenses. ‘After this,’ raged Mill, ‘I shall henceforth wish for Tory government.’ He should have been more careful in his wishes: a few years later Disraeli’s administration also reinstated Eyre’s pension.”
Mill’s views on the subject resulted in him being described as having “gone ****” and being “nuts upon ******s”.
Everyone is human
Mill had various beliefs that still seem odd. He also fell out with his whole family for no apparent reason.
“Mill’s doctor was none the less persuaded that six months away from India House was required. On the evidence available, it seems as if the greatest British philosopher of the nineteenth century overstated his physical symptoms in order to get a sicknote and slip off to Italy with his mistress.”
Libertarian credentials
“In this country, however, the effective restraints on mental freedom proceed much less from the law or the government, than from the intolerant temper of the national mind; arising no longer from even as respectable a source as bigotry or fanaticism, but rather from the general habit, both in opinion and conduct, of making adherence to custom the rule of life, and enforcing it, by social penalties, against all persons who, without a party to back them, assert their individual independence.”
“The social reformers of the age worried about how to get workers more food, money, leisure and health. Mill worried about how to get them more freedom. […]
“For Mill, the solution was to instil in the Irish peasantry a sense of responsibility, not dependency. What was needed was a reform which ‘must be something operating upon the minds of the people, and not merely upon their stomachs. [...] They must have something to strive for, some rational ambition’.”
“To facilitate a much greater spread of wealth, Mill proposed a financial cap on the amount any individual could receive in the form of inheritance.”
“While Mill recognized that an over-generous system could reduce work effort, he also saw that the absence of help could have a similar effect. […] ‘It is even more fatal to exertion to have no hope of succeeding by it, than to be assured of succeeding without it.”
And another thing
If you ask people to name some British philosophers, you’re likely to get a blank look. If you get an answer, obvious suggestions include Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill and Bertrand Russell. The connection between the first two is relatively well known, but it turns out that Russell was Mill’s godson.
“On a minor level, it seems unlikely that without Harriet at his side, Mill would have spent so many hours making the language of the third edition of the Principles more gender-neutral, replacing hundreds of occurrences of ‘his’ with ‘their’.”
“All [Gladstone’s] copies of Mill’s books were in fact heavily underlined and scribbled on, and his reading diary demonstrates that he would typically consult Mill’s work before making economic policy decisions.”
“[Mill] even presented directly opposing petitions, such as one to restrict the sale of alcohol on Sundays and another to remove such restrictions.”
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