I’m currently reading Reeves’
biography on JS Mill and enjoying some background context which sheds light on
his philosophy and who he was. Here’s what I’ve learnt from the biography so
far.
Here’s a quote from Mill’s ‘On
Liberty’ that particularly struck me on reading it (in Reeves, 2007, p9):
“The worth of a State, in the
long run, is the worth of the individuals composing it” and the reason why is
that if a State turns people into “docile instruments….even for beneficial
purposes” then “no great thing can really be accomplished”.
Mill was a passionate orator,
activist, politician and campaigner. He was also a keen botanist and
environmentalist who campaigned to save the elm trees of Piccadilly and
believed that the public should have access to woods and feel free to fight for
this access should it ever be denied.
He was considered the best 19th
century British philosopher yet was critical of philosophers who spent all
their time theorizing. For Mill, the most important aspect of life was that everyone,
regardless of gender, race, or creed should be free to lead their life the way
they want to, while at the same time, trying to lead a good life which did not
cause harm to anyone. Freedom was the cornerstone of his philosophy. He
believed in democracy as the best overall political system for supporting
liberty as long as the people were educated to a sufficient enough level to be
well-informed citizens living well collectively (the latter being something
Spinoza also valued). His reason for getting out of bed every day was to
improve the life of others and help people help themselves. A present day
example of this is, I think, a system used in Africa today whereby women are
given help to set up their own small businesses so they can support themselves
and their children. So many women live in poverty today, even in this country,
maybe a system like this should be implemented here. Mill was always aware of
world issues and trying to solve them. Even as a teenager he was advocating
contraception as a way to reduce poverty and infanticide which was committed by
women who could not afford to look after yet another child. This issue about
contraception and planned-parenthood is still relevant today, two centuries
later. Unfortunately, he was arrested for handing out pamphlets on
contraception and spent a few days in jail.
Just as Spinoza’s philosophy is
often overshadowed by too much emphasis on his excommunication from his synagogue
so, I feel, Mill’s philosophy is overshadowed by him being seen as a strict
utilitarian, austere like his father, James Mill, and his affair/marriage to
Harriet Taylor whose contribution to his philosophical works is still
underestimated today. A sexist attitude J.S. Mill himself did not share. He was
at pains to say that they were so at one in thought that it was difficult to
tell who thought what first. This is also how her closest friend, Eliza Flower,
a British composer, saw Mill and Harriet. They were soulmates, intellectual
collaborators. However many still wish, including Reeves, to contradict Mill
and think her contribution wasn’t that important, he would have been just as
successful no matter what woman he married. Male arrogance as far as I’m
concerned! Mill is known for his fierce support of women’s equality as well as
his love of truth.
Reeves, R., (2007) John Stuart Mill, Victorian Firebrand,
Atlantic Books
