Page 240 - DPOL201_WESTERN_POLITICAL_THOUGHT_ENGLISH

Sukanya Das, Lovely Professional University
Western Political Thought Manu Sharma, Lovely Professional University

Notes Unit 13: John Stuart Mill: His Life and Theory of Liberty

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
13.1 Life Sketch
13.2 Critique of Utilitarianism
13.3 Defence of Individual Freedom and Individuality

13.4 Equality within the Family and between the Sexes
13.5 Summary
13.6 Key–Words
13.7 Review Questions
13.8 Further Readings

Objectives
After studying this unit students will be able to:
• Know about Mill’s life and work.
• Analyse utilitarianism.

• Discuss defence of individual freedom and individuality.
• Explain equality within the family.
Introduction

John Stuart Mill (1806-873) was the most influential political thinker of the nineteenth century. In
his political theory, liberalism made a transition from laissez faire to an active role for the state,
from a negative to a positive conception of liberty, and from an atomistic to a more social conception
of individuality. While Mill was a liberal, he could also be regarded, at the same time, as a
reluctant democrat, a pluralist, a cooperative socialist, an elitist and a feminist.
Mill’s transformative criticism of Benthamite utilitarianism was one of his greatest contributions
to political thought. He regarded himself as Peter, who defied his master, for he argued that the
principle of greatest happiness of the greatest number was defensible only if a distinction was
made between happiness and pleasure. He also replaced the quantitative approach of Bentham by
a qualitative one. Mill also convincingly argued for a defence of basic freedoms by law. The purpose
of law was to maximize liberty, as it gave an opportunity for “self-realization”. He made an
important distinction between the public sphere regulated by law, and the private sphere regulated
by morality. He saw the need for a liberal society .is a basic precondition of a liberal state and
government (Sabine 1973: 642). The reason for this emphasis in the context of the Anglo-American
tradition was because the liberal state was already an irreversible reality. He defended free speech
and the right of individuality. Mill, unlike many contemporary liberals, championed women’s
rights, seeing sexual inequality as ethically and legally untenable.
Mill updated Smith’s ideas in his Principles of Political Economy (1848). He not only defended laissez
faire but also argued that a just and orderly economic development was possible if trade unions
existed, for that would restore a balance in the bargaining process between the capitalists and

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