John Stuart Mill

John Stuart Mill (1806–1873) was a British philosopher and political economist whose arguments about liberty, utility, representation, and equality shaped nineteenth-century liberal thought. On Liberty asks when society may restrict individual action and remains the clearest route into his defense of intellectual and personal freedom. Utilitarianism sets out his account of moral judgment through happiness and consequences, while The Subjection of Women applies his liberal principles to legal and social inequality. Principles of Political Economy With Some of Their Applications to Social Philosophy broadens the picture toward institutions and economic life; Considerations on Representative Government turns to political design. Readers can pair On Liberty with Utilitarianism to see how freedom and ethics support one another, then move to The Subjection of Women for the social reach of those ideas.