Commentary
[in chronological order]
Starting with Mill by John Fitzpatrck
- Fitzpatrick, John R. Starting with Mill. London: Continuum, 2010.This book is a general, introductory overview of Mill’s thought for beginning students of his work. From the publisher: “Covering all the key concepts of Mill’s work, Starting with Mill provides an accessible introduction to the ideas of… More
Why Read Mill Today? by John Skorupski
- Skorupski, John. Why Read Mill Today? London: Routledge, 2006.From the publisher: “John Stuart Mill is one of the greatest thinkers of the nineteenth century. But does he have anything to teach us today? His deep concern for freedom of the individual is thought by some to be outdated and inadequate to the cultural… More
The Blackwell Guide to Mill’s Utilitarianism
- West, Henry R., ed., The Blackwell Guide to Mill's Utilitarianism, Oxford: Blackwell, 2006.From the publisher: Contains the complete text of Utilitarianism and twelve related essays. Essays cover the background to Mill’s classic essay, analyses of the arguments, and contemporary debates within the utilitarian tradition. Also includes a case study… More
John Stuart Mill: A Biography
- Capaldi, Nicholas. John Stuart Mill: A Biography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.From the publisher: Nicholas Capaldi’s biography of John Stuart Mill traces the ways in which Mill’s many endeavors are related and explores the significance of his contributions to metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, social and political… More
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
- Smith, G. W., “John Stuart Mill, On Liberty.” In J. J. E. Gracia, G. M. Reichberg, and B. M. Schumacher, eds., The Classics of Western Philosophy: A Reader's Guide, Oxford: Blackwell, 2003, pp. 395-404.The Classics of Western Philosophy brings together 61 essays on classic texts ranging from Ancient Greece to the twentieth century. Surveying the history of philosophy, the book focuses on historical texts rather than historical figures and covers the entire… More
Mill on Democracy: From the Athenian Polis to Representative Government
- Urbinati, Nadia. Mill On Democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002.From the publisher: Despite John Stuart Mill’s widely respected contributions to philosophy and political economy, his work on political philosophy has received a much more mixed response. Some critics have even charged that Mill’s liberalism was… More
The Cambridge Companion to John Stuart Mill
- Skorupski, John, ed. The Cambridge Companion to John Stuart Mill. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.From the publisher: “John Stuart Mill was one of the greatest thinkers of the nineteenth century. His impact on modern culture and thought has been immense, and his continuing importance for contemporary philosophy and social thought is widely… More
Mill’s On Liberty: Critical Essays
- Dworkin, Gerald, ed. Mill's On Liberty: Critical Essays. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 1997.A collection of critical essays on the topic of Mill’s seminal essay, edited by Gerald Dworkin. Essays include: “Mill and Milquetoast,” by David Lewis “John Stuart Mill and the Harm of Pornography,” by David Dyzenhaus “Mill… More
Mill’s Utilitarianism: Critical Essays
- Lyons, David, ed. Mill's Utilitarianism: Critical Essays. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 1997.From the publisher: John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism continues to serve as a rich source of moral and theoretical insight. This collection of recent articles by top scholars offers fresh interpretations of Mill’s ideas about happiness, moral… More
Mill on Liberty: A Defense
- Gray, John. Mill on Liberty: A Defense, 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 1996.From the publisher: Mill on Liberty was first published in 1983 and has become a classic of Mill commentary. The second edition reproduces the text of the first in full, and in paperback for the first time. To this, John Gray adds an extensive postscript… More
Major Works
Autobiography (1873)
- Mill, J.S., Autobiography, in Robson ed., The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1963-.Excerpt: I have no remembrance of the time when I began to learn Greek. I have been told that it was when I was three years old. My earliest recollection on the subject, is that of committing to memory what my father termed Vocables, being lists of common… More
The Subjection of Women (1869)
- ill, J. S. The Subjection of Women. In The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, edited by John M. Robson. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1963–.Excerpt: “The object of this essay is to explain as clearly as I am able, the grounds of an opinion which I have held from the very earliest period when I had formed any opinions at all on social or political matters, and which, instead of being… More
Utilitarianism (1861)
- Mill, J. S. Utilitarianism. In The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, edited by John M. Robson. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1963–.Excerpt: “There are few circumstances among those which make up the present condition of human knowledge, more unlike what might have been expected, or more significant of the backward state in which speculation on the most important subjects still… More
Considerations on Representative Government (1861)
- Mill, J. S. Considerations on Representative Government. In The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, edited by John M. Robson. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1963–.Excerpt: “It seems to me, however, from various indications, and from none more than the recent debates on Reform of Parliament, that both Conservatives and Liberals (if I may continue to call them what they still call themselves) have lost confidence… More
On Liberty (1859)
- Mill, J. S. On Liberty. In The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, edited by John M. Robson. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1963–.Excerpt: “The subject of this Essay is not the so-called Liberty of the Will, so unfortunately opposed to the misnamed doctrine of Philosophical Necessity; but Civil, or Social Liberty: the nature and limits of the power which can be legitimately… More
Principles of Political Economy (1848)
- Mill, J.S., Principles of Political Economy, in Robson ed., The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1963-.Excerpt: It appears to the present writer, that a work similar in its object and general conception to that of Adam Smith, but adapted to the more extended knowledge and improved ideas of the present age, is the kind of contribution which Political Economy at… More
A System of Logic, Rationative and Inductive (1843)
- Mill, J.S., System of Logic, Rationative and Inductive, in Robson ed., The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1963-.Excerpt: This book makes no pretence of giving to the world a new theory of the intellectual operations. Its claim to attention, if it possess any, is grounded on the fact that it is an attempt not to supersede, but to embody and systematize, the best ideas… More
Multimedia
On Representative Government
- Mill, J.S., On Representative Government, LibriVox audiobook, 2013.LibriVox audiobook of J.S. Mill’s On Representative Government.
Autobiography
- Mill, J.S., Autobiography, LibriVox audiobook, 2012.LibriVox recording of Autobiography by John Stuart Mill.
John Stuart Mill: His Life and Works
- Boerst, Bill, John Stuart Mill: His Life and Works, audiobook, 31 August, 2012.From website: This biography is actually a series of essays by prominent personalities of the time that shed light on John Stuart Mill’s life and areas of endeavor. Those areas include his experiences in India House, his moral character, certain… More
The Islamic Politics of John Stuart Mill
- Booth, Marilyn, "The Islamic Politics of John Stuart Mill," lecture delivered at the University of Edinburgh, 19 January, 2012.Professor Marilyn Booth presents her inaugural lecture entitled “The Islamic Politics of John Stuart Mill: Street literature, translation and gender activism in Egypt, circa 2002.” Excerpt: “The discourse on Islamic practices as a basis for… More
Social Structures
- Gendler, Tamar. "Social Foundations" delivered at Yale University, Spring, 2011.A lecture from the Yale course PHIL180: Philosophy and the Science of Human Nature Professor Gendler begins by recapping the topic of state legitimacy and then offers a way of understanding the disagreement between Rawls and Nozick as one over what states… More
The Neoclassical Synthesis of Rights and Utility
- Shapiro, Ian. "The Neoclassical Synthesis of Rights and Utility," lecture delivered at Yale University, Spring, 2010.Lecture 7 in Yale Open Courses PLSC 118: The Moral Foundations of Politics Overview from website: John Stuart Mill’s synthesis rights and utility follows naturally in the vein of neoclassical utilitarianism, and it attempts to compensate for many of the… More
The Individual and Society: How would Mill Define ‘The Common Good?
- Reeves, Richard. "The Individual and Society: How would Mill Define 'The Common Good?" delivered at the Jepson Leadership Forum, September 16, 2009.Mill biographer Richard Reeves discusses liberalism, citizenship, and the common good.
Mill: Utilitarianism and Liberty
- Szelényi, Iván. "Mill: Utilitarianism and Liberty," lecture delivered at Yale University, Fall, 2009.Lecture 8 in Yale Open Courses course SOCY 151: Foundations of Modern Social Theory. From website: John Stuart Mill made important and influential amendments to Bentham’s ideas of utilitarianism. Perhaps most influentially, Mill states that there are… More
The Subjection of Women
- Mill, J.S., On The Subjection of Women, LibriVox audiobook, 2008.LibriVox recording of The Subjection of Women, by John Stuart Mill.
Utilitarianism
- Mill, J. S., Utilitarianism, LibriVox audiobook, March 9, 2008.LibriVox recording of Utilitarianism, by John Stuart Mill. Read by D. E. Wittkower.