Major Works

• 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 lingers,… More

Commentary

• The Philosophical Theory of the State

  - Bosanquet, Bernard. Philosophical Theory of the State. London: Macmillan, 1889.
  Excerpt: “The same point may be further insisted on by examining the main ideas of Mill’s “Liberty,” without by any means professing to give a full account of Mill’s opinions on the relation of individuals to society. What indeed is… More

• The Methods of Ethics

  - Sidgwick, Henry. The Methods of Ethics. 7^th ed., London: Macmillan, 1907.
  First published in 1874 by the English philosopher Henry Sidgwick,  The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy indicates that The Methods of Ethics “in many ways marked the culmination of the classical utilitarian tradition.”  John Rawls, writing… More

• The Growth of Philosophic Radicalism

  - Halevy, Elie. The Growth of Philosophic Radicalism. Trans. M. Morris, with preface by A. D. Lindsay, London: Faber and Faber, 1934.
  This is still one of the best discussions of the 19th century Utilitarian movement in England, covering the rise of the Benthamites and the conflict between the growing economic philosophy and older philosophies that emphasized human and social values. Halevy… More

• The English Utilitarians

  - Plamenatz, John. The English Utilitarians. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1949.
  John Plamenatz provides a classic study of the English doctrine of utilitarianism. Chapters are devoted to important figures in the movement such as Hume, Bentham, James Mill, and John Stuart Mill. The treatment addresses the philosophical and psychological… More

• The Improvement of Mankind

  - Robson, John M. The Improvement of Mankind. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1968.
  John M. Robson, compiler of the Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, provides an account of the unity underlying the writings of John Stuart Mill. The work shows the continuities and differences between Mill and his predecessors, the Philosophical Radicals.

• J.S. Mill

  - Ryan, Alan. J. S. Mill. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1974.
  In this book the author contributes to the Routledge series of author guides to render full justice to the range of Mill’s achievements. He provides an introductory guide to his most important and best known writings including Autobiography, A System of… More

• Happiness, Justice and Freedom: The Moral and Political Philosophy of John Stuart Mill

  - Berger, Fred. Happiness, Justice and Freedom: The Moral and Political Philosophy of John Stuart Mill. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.
  The author argues that Mill’s writing are united by a more cohesive set of doctrines than has previously been recognized. He contends that this allows Mill to provide a powerful defence of utilitarianism and political liberalism.

• Mill’s Deliberative Utilitarianism

  - Brink, David O. “Mill's Deliberative Utilitarianism.” In Philosophy & Public Affairs 21(1992): 67-103.
  Excerpt: Mill can be shown to reject hedonism consistently; instead, he defends (consistently) a conception of human happiness whose dominant component consists in the exercise of one’s rational capacities. This deliberative conception of happiness not… 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

• 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

• 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

Multimedia

• Ethics: Mill 3

  - Clark, Sam, "Ethics: Mill 3," audiofile of lecture delivered at Lancashire University.
  Lecture on ethics/moral philosophy. Mill versus Brave New World: intelligence and free speech as its condition of cultivation; individuality and self-development as its condition of cultivation. The problem of justice and Mill’s response.

• Ethics: Mill 2

  - Clark, Sam, "Ethics: Mill 2," audiofile of lecture delivered at Lancashire University.
  From the website: Lecture on ethics/moral philosophy. Mill’s Utilitarianism chapters 3 and 4 as two kinds of theory of action: motivation (3) and goal/standard of correctness (4). Why Mill’s proof of utilitarianism isn’t as silly as… More

• Ethics: Mill 1

  - Clark, Sam, "Ethics: Mill 1," audiofile of lecture delivered at Lancashire University.
  From website: Lecture on ethics/moral philosophy. John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism. Orienting comparisons between Kant & Mill. Utilitarianism in general as impartial welfare consequentialism. Three accounts of the good life: hedonism,… More

• Utilitarianism

  - Mill, J. S., Utilitarianism, LibriVox audiobook, March 9, 2008.
  LibriVox recording of Utilitarianism, by John Stuart Mill. Read by D. E. Wittkower.

• 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