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John Stuart Mill's essay of 1859 asks how far society may control the individual, and answers with a single principle: the only legitimate reason to use…
John Stuart Mill's essay of 1859 asks how far society may control the individual, and answers with a single principle: the only legitimate reason to use power over anyone against their will is to prevent harm to others. He defends freedom of thought and discussion, warns against the quiet tyranny of public opinion, and argues that individuality is necessary for human progress.
Context and significance
Mill dedicated the book to his wife, Harriet Taylor Mill, who had died the year before and with whom he had developed its ideas. It remains one of the most cited works in debates about free speech. Continue with The Subjection of Women.
About the author
John Stuart Mill (1806–1873) received one of the most intense educations ever recorded: his father taught him Greek at three and Latin at eight, and by his teens he was writing on economics. At twenty he fell into a deep depression and found his way out through the poetry of Wordsworth, an experience that taught him the value of feeling alongside reason.
He worked for thirty-five years at the East India Company, wrote on logic, economics and politics, and shared his intellectual life with Harriet Taylor, whom he married in 1851. As a Member of Parliament he proposed votes for women in 1867. His On Liberty, Utilitarianism and The Subjection of Women are still at the centre of debate.