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Completely Free: The Moral and Political Vision of John Stuart Mill
An original, unified reconstruction of Mill’s moral and political philosophy―one that finally reveals its consistency and full power
Few thinkers have been as influential as John Stuart Mill, whose philosophy has arguably defined Utilitarian ethics and modern liberalism. But fewer still have been subject to as much criticism for perceived ambiguities and inconsistencies. In Completely Free , John Peter DiIulio offers an ambitious and comprehensive new reading that explains how Mill’s ethical, moral, and political ideas are all part of a unified, coherent, and powerful philosophy.
Almost every aspect of Mill’s practical philosophy has been charged with contradictions, illogic, or incoherence. Most notoriously, Mill claims an absolute commitment both to promoting societal happiness and to defending individual liberty―a commitment that many critics believe must ultimately devolve into an either/or. DiIulio resolves these and other problems by reconsidering and reconstructing the key components of Mill’s practical his theories of happiness, morality, liberty, and freedom. Casting new light on old texts, DiIulio argues that Mill’s Utilitarianism and liberalism are not only compatible but philosophically wedded, that his theories naturally emanate from one another, and that the vast majority of interpretive mysteries surrounding Mill can be readily demystified. In a manner at once sympathetic and critical, DiIulio seeks to present Mill in his most lucid and potent form.
From the higher pleasures and moral impartiality to free speech and nondomination, Completely Free provides an unmatched account of the unity and power of Mill’s enduring moral and political thought.
Few thinkers have been as influential as John Stuart Mill, whose philosophy has arguably defined Utilitarian ethics and modern liberalism. But fewer still have been subject to as much criticism for perceived ambiguities and inconsistencies. In Completely Free , John Peter DiIulio offers an ambitious and comprehensive new reading that explains how Mill’s ethical, moral, and political ideas are all part of a unified, coherent, and powerful philosophy.
Almost every aspect of Mill’s practical philosophy has been charged with contradictions, illogic, or incoherence. Most notoriously, Mill claims an absolute commitment both to promoting societal happiness and to defending individual liberty―a commitment that many critics believe must ultimately devolve into an either/or. DiIulio resolves these and other problems by reconsidering and reconstructing the key components of Mill’s practical his theories of happiness, morality, liberty, and freedom. Casting new light on old texts, DiIulio argues that Mill’s Utilitarianism and liberalism are not only compatible but philosophically wedded, that his theories naturally emanate from one another, and that the vast majority of interpretive mysteries surrounding Mill can be readily demystified. In a manner at once sympathetic and critical, DiIulio seeks to present Mill in his most lucid and potent form.
From the higher pleasures and moral impartiality to free speech and nondomination, Completely Free provides an unmatched account of the unity and power of Mill’s enduring moral and political thought.
- GenresPoliticsPhilosophy
328 pages, Hardcover
Published June 14, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 28, 2025
Brag: I met John Peter DiIulio at a conference; he was kind enough to show interest in my Aristotelianism/utilitarianism project, and offered to send me this book for free and chat about it. He’s super nice and does such great work, including this book.
JS Mill is the most influential (and maybe the best) utilitarian philosopher, and one of the most influential philosophers of the last 200 years. Bonus: he was a relatively radical feminist.
This book is a synthesis of Mill’s practical philosophy, which is famously hard to interpret—he is often accused of being incoherent or unclear. I think DiIulio does an incredible job rebutting the worst of these accusations. Mill still doesn’t turn out easy to interpret, but he does turn out to have a compelling and nuanced vision of happiness, morality, society, and politics. Other philosophers have observed that Mill sometimes seems “between Aristotle and Bentham,” Bentham being the founder of secular utilitarianism. DiIulio shows just how true this is, and how Mill might just pull it off as well as anyone could have.
I was surprised at how often I thought, “if this is really what Mill meant, then Mill might have just been RIGHT. Or at least, that Mill was as right as he could have been given the conceptual resources he had to work with, which is a more MacIntyre thing to say. Even MacIntyre admitted something like this in After Virtue.
I was also blown away by the strength of Mill’s case for free speech. I’m not sure I’d taken it seriously enough before. If you feel you already understand the importance of free speech intuitively or because of the first amendment (like me), the relevant sections of this book will show you how much more there is to the principle.
More generally, I got more interested in Mill’s politics than I expected to be. Like Aristotle, you can’t fully grasp his ethics without his politics; DiIulio shows why. DiIulio also addresses several objections to that vision (critics say too conservative, too liberal, too individualist, too communal, etc.), and I did feel the force of the conservative critics especially. MacIntyre isn’t a conservative, but he would accuse Mill of liberalism. As a liberal, Mill draws sharp moral lines around “domination” and paternalism, but makes some obvious exceptions for children to the extent that they have to be parented INTO autonomy before being treated as autonomous. As DiIulio points out, the sharp line here gets fuzzy quick—can’t adults be relevantly childlike and warrant some domination? This doesn’t necessarily mean Mill was WRONG on any principles, but the practical application of his vision might need MacIntyrean communities (of course) to avoid the loss of what Mill considered civilized society. I think MacIntyre’s claim is actually that we already have fallen into the state Mill feared and theorized little about, in which a society fails to reproduce independent political reasoners.
This is a wonderful book. If you have interests in happiness, morality, and liberty, or the history of ideas about these, check this book out.
JS Mill is the most influential (and maybe the best) utilitarian philosopher, and one of the most influential philosophers of the last 200 years. Bonus: he was a relatively radical feminist.
This book is a synthesis of Mill’s practical philosophy, which is famously hard to interpret—he is often accused of being incoherent or unclear. I think DiIulio does an incredible job rebutting the worst of these accusations. Mill still doesn’t turn out easy to interpret, but he does turn out to have a compelling and nuanced vision of happiness, morality, society, and politics. Other philosophers have observed that Mill sometimes seems “between Aristotle and Bentham,” Bentham being the founder of secular utilitarianism. DiIulio shows just how true this is, and how Mill might just pull it off as well as anyone could have.
I was surprised at how often I thought, “if this is really what Mill meant, then Mill might have just been RIGHT. Or at least, that Mill was as right as he could have been given the conceptual resources he had to work with, which is a more MacIntyre thing to say. Even MacIntyre admitted something like this in After Virtue.
I was also blown away by the strength of Mill’s case for free speech. I’m not sure I’d taken it seriously enough before. If you feel you already understand the importance of free speech intuitively or because of the first amendment (like me), the relevant sections of this book will show you how much more there is to the principle.
More generally, I got more interested in Mill’s politics than I expected to be. Like Aristotle, you can’t fully grasp his ethics without his politics; DiIulio shows why. DiIulio also addresses several objections to that vision (critics say too conservative, too liberal, too individualist, too communal, etc.), and I did feel the force of the conservative critics especially. MacIntyre isn’t a conservative, but he would accuse Mill of liberalism. As a liberal, Mill draws sharp moral lines around “domination” and paternalism, but makes some obvious exceptions for children to the extent that they have to be parented INTO autonomy before being treated as autonomous. As DiIulio points out, the sharp line here gets fuzzy quick—can’t adults be relevantly childlike and warrant some domination? This doesn’t necessarily mean Mill was WRONG on any principles, but the practical application of his vision might need MacIntyrean communities (of course) to avoid the loss of what Mill considered civilized society. I think MacIntyre’s claim is actually that we already have fallen into the state Mill feared and theorized little about, in which a society fails to reproduce independent political reasoners.
This is a wonderful book. If you have interests in happiness, morality, and liberty, or the history of ideas about these, check this book out.
August 8, 2022
A comprehensive, unified, and compelling case for John Stuart Mill's total vision of happiness, morality, liberty, and freedom, this book is beautifully and clearly written, making it accessible and engaging for those with little background and scholars alike.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews