John Stuart Mill

John Stuart Mill was born in London in 1806, the eldest son of the Scottish philosopher and historian James Mill, who educated him at home in a famously demanding program: he began Greek at three and Latin at eight. He was raised to carry on the ideas of his father's friend Jeremy Bentham. At twenty he suffered a mental crisis, from which he recovered partly by reading poetry, especially Wordsworth. He worked for the East India Company for over thirty years. In 1830 he met Harriet Taylor, who became a close friend and intellectual partner; they married in 1851, after the death of her husband. His books include A System of Logic (1843), Principles of Political Economy (1848), On Liberty (1859), which defends freedom of thought and action except where it harms others, Considerations on Representative Government (1861) and Utilitarianism (1863). As a member of Parliament from 1865 to 1868 he proposed giving women the vote, and The Subjection of Women (1869) argued for their legal equality. He died in Avignon, France, in 1873.

John Stuart Mill is also an author in the library: author page and works.

Faith: Brought up without religion; he said he had 'not thrown off religious belief, but never had it'. Source: Dictionary of National Biography (1885–1900) (via Wikisource)