John Stuart Mill's Autobiography (Essay Sample)

John Stuart Mill's Autobiography
Name
Course
Instructor
Date
John Stuart Mill's Autobiography
John Stuart Mill was a British philosopher, a civil servant and a political economist born in the year 1806 in London, the eldest son of James Mill CITATION Stu61 \p 1 \l 1033 (Stuart 1961, 1). Born of a father who was a philosopher who advocated for the rationalization of law and legal institutions and political leadership focused on human happiness and natural rights rather than conservatism. His father was his mentor and through his education system Stuart learned many things about politics, economics, ethics, sociology and religion. The paper shall focus on some of the key characteristics of Mill, which contributed to his achievements in the philosophy world.
Mill is depicted as a hardworking and serious person right from his early years of growth and development. Mill began to learn the Greek language at the age of three years and was very committed to master the language. His father could write him the Greek vocabularies on cards alongside with their English signification and Mill could read. At last he had mastered the verbs and nouns with a series of translations after translation. He was able to read in Greek as he says in chapter one "I faintly remember going through AEsop's Fables, the first Greek book that I read”CITATION Stu61 \p 5 \l 1033 (Stuart 1961, 5). The second language that Mill was able to learn was the Latin, which he learned in his eight year. Having been born 1806, by the year 1813 he had read several books about various authors notably, Plato, Herodotus and Xenophon cyclopedia. His father’s determination to ensure that is little son was educated was very immense, and the hardworking of Mill is what prompted his father to teach him more. Apart from teaching him languages he also taught him arithmetic a subject that Mill came to like so much than the languages. However, he was very motivated and determined to learn historical happenings in the Greek and Latin language. His father had trained him on the languages and was able to read several books by various philosophers and historians of the time. By the year 1818 Jon had ventured into the world of philosophy and by that time he had edited manuscripts of Jeremy Bentham. He also started several intellectual societies and was a prolific contributor to many periodicals such as the Westminster Review. In the year 1823 his father secured him a position in the East India Company. His determination and extraordinary performance at the company saw him grew up the ranks in the organization to taking his father’s position in the company as the Chief Examiner. All these achievements tell of a hard working young fellow who once given an opportunity could maximize on it to achieve his best. However, his seriousness and his academic studies caused him a nervous breakdown as he narrates in chapter five of his autobiography.
Mills concern for humanity cannot waver. Having brought up by a radical revolutionist father who also taught him several issues surrounding the Greek and Latin world, his desire and concern for humanity grew. He was very determined to make the world a better place where human beings of all lifestyles can survive. It’s through such thoughts that he came up with the theory of liberty. He argues that power is what is used to guide legitimately individuals in a society. He argues that one can cause harm to themselves as long as the harm does not affect other people. He insists that no individual exists in isolation, and, therefore, any harm done to oneself will harm others. The harm caused to public property is harm to the society. He argues people to live responsible lives and be concerned with other people in society. For instance when one fails to appear in court as a witness, failing to pay taxes and failing to rescue a drowning person are all acts of harm that are not acceptable in society.
In chapter three of his autobiography, Mills desire to understand the human nature dominates the whole of chapter three. It all began when he started studying the utilitarian theory as discussed by Jeremy Bentham. Jeremy Bentham describes the formulation of the utilitarian theory as the greatest happiness principle. Jeremy believes that one must always work harder to realize the happiness that they need in life. Bentham treats all forms of happiness as equal. Mill came up with an argument that distributed the various aspects of the greatest happiness principle. Mill described happiness and contentment as two different aspects of human life. He says, "It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, are of a different opinion, it is because they only know their side of the question"CITATION Stu61 \p 33 \l 1033 (Stuart 1961, 33). Mill divided pleasure into two that is the higher pleasure and the lower pleasure. He says that those who have experienced the two tend to prefer one over the other. It is contrary to Jeremy’s arguments which he believes that a hopscotch game by a child is far much better than an opera house as long as it has more pleasure than the latter. Mill believed in the education system of the individual. At one point, he supported a legislation that gave extra voting power to university graduates as they were better placed to think and influence several aspects of government.
Mills deferent character dominates chapter four of his autobiography. It begins in the year 1822 when he became one of the writers of the Westminster Review. His father had fallen apart with Jeremy Bentham, who was a propagandist of that time commonly known as the utilitarian propagandist. His father used him and his influence that he had in the Westminster Review to influence several youths to think in his line of thought. Mill had an influence on the youths, and his thinking is very independent. He respects his father who he believes he formed his mind directly by his instructions but does not subscribe to ...