John Stuart Mill Biographical Information

John Stuart Mill was a very intelligent man, who not only was a great economist of his time, but he was also a philosopher, scholar, author and a political scientist. He was the “most influential English-speaking philosopher of the 19th century.” (John Mill, 1) John made a huge impact on the world. He contributed many ideas and beliefs to society. John Mill was a man of many talents, and he had the courage to hold beliefs that most people did not agree with.

Biographical Information

John Stuart Mill was born on May 20th, 1806. He was born in London, United Kingdom. His father was the historian and economist, James Mill. His mother was Harriet Barrow. He started learning Greek when he was only 3 years old, and Latin at 8 years old. Mill’s father met Jeremy Bentham in 1808. They lead the “philosophic radicals” movement. They wanted universal voting rights (for men), and they wanted to consider human happiness instead of “natural laws.” Their movement later morphed into a belief called utilitarianism. Utilitarianism’s definition is “the ethical doctrine that virtue is based on utility, and that conduct should be directed toward promoting the greatest happiness of the greatest number of persons.” (Utilitarianism, 1)

James Mill earned a job at the East India Company, after writing History of British India in 1818. He climbed his way up to the chief examiner position. James made sure that John got a good education. John studied many different subjects, including math, history, and economics. He was 14 years old when he grasped the fundamentals of economic theory. John was heavily influenced by Jeremy Bentham, his father, and the philosophical radicals. John devoted time to many periodicals, including the West Minster Review. M...

... middle of paper ...

...line.htm>.

McNamara, Robert. "Timeline from 1830 to 1840." About.com 19th Century History. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Jan. 2014. .

McNamara, Robert. "Timeline from 1820 to 1830." About.com 19th Century History. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Jan. 2014. .

McNamara, Robert. "Timeline from 1840 to 1850." About.com 19th Century History. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Jan. 2014. .

"Utilitarianism." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 9 Jan. 2014. .

Wilson, Fred, Wilson,. "John Stuart Mill." Stanford University. Stanford University, 3 Jan. 2002. Web. 9 Jan. 2014. .

MLA formatting by BibMe.org.