John Stuart Mill
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Who is John Stuart Mill?
John Stuart Mill was born on May 20, 1806, in London, England. He was mostly known for his radical views. For example, he preached sexual equality, divorce, universal suffrage, free speech, and proportional representation. He had many works of writings such as Principles of Political Economy, On Liberty, The Subjections of Women, and the Three Essays of Religion: Nature, the Utility of Religion, and Theism.
John Mill was the eldest son of James Mill who was a philosopher, economist and a senior official in the East India Company. James educated John when he was young. His father taught him discipline, Greek at the age of three, history, languages, calculus, logic, political economy, geography, psychology, and rhetoric. At the age of twelve he was a competent logician and by the age of sixteen a well trained economist. (
Around the age of sixteen, John created a Utilitarian Society, which had the goal of bringing happiness to the greatest number of people, where he was one of a “small knot of young men” who practiced his fathers political and philosophical views. (
During Johns lifetime one of his most controversial works was On Liberty. It was an essay on the feelings he and his wife had, “that they lived in a society where bold and adventurous individuals were becoming all too rare.” (
He eventually retired from the East India Company in 1858, which is when the British government took over. Elected Member of the Parliament for Westminster in 1865, he made several speeches on politics and womens voting rights. He only served this position for one year. After his term he spent the rest of his life in Avignon, France, where he died in 1873.
One of John Stuart Millss most famous pieces of writing is “The Subjection of Women.” In the two chapters that are accompanied in The Longman Anthology, you can only get a brief example of this work. In this work he states the men should give women the same quality as the treat another white man. The issue of slavery is stated to compare how men treat inferior sexes. “Did not the slave-owners of the Southern United States maintain the same doctrine, with all the fanaticism with which men cling to the theories that justify their passions and legitimate their personal interests?” (The Longman Anthology, pg. 522) He also stated that should he bring back the theory of Aristotle of which man has rule of slaves and women. He contradicts himself to this nature. Later he stated, “But, it will be said, the rule of men over women differs from all these others in not being a rule of force: it is accepted voluntarily; women make no complaint, and are consenting parties to it.” (The Longman Anthology, pg. 523) Women from the beginning didnt accept the fact that men were so called masters to there race. The only way they could express there feelings legally is threw their writings and publications. Parliamentary Suffrage was an issue that thousands of women brought before Parliament. This issue was brought to the house in 1866 with John Mills the first member of the Parliament to advocate womens suffrage. Stating later in Chapter One of The Subjection of Women, he gives an example that men dont want women as slaves, but they want to feel connected to women. “The masters of women wanted more than simple obedience, and they turned the whole force of education to affect their purpose.” (The Longman Anthology, pg. 523) Women were brought up to look up to men and to know that they are inferior in both physical and mental aspects. “When we put together three things-first, the natural attraction between opposite sexes; secondly, the wifes entire dependence on the husband, every privilege or pleasure she has being either his gift, or depending entirely on his will; and lastly, that the principal object of human pursuit, consideration, and all objects of social ambition, can in general be sought or obtained by her only through him-it would be a miracle if the object of being attractive