John Stuart Mill

John Stuart Mill was born in London on May 20, 1806. He was educated entirely by his father, James Mill, and was deliberately shielded from other boys of his age “He was never permitted to meet a boy of his own age, so that he should not realize how different from other boys he was. He never played cricket. He was a grown-up en miniature feeling a grown man’s responsibility, and more, for country and humanity” (John Stuart Mill the Man 15). He was subjected to intellectual discipline. As a result of this system, he believed this gave him an advantage. Mill recognized later in life that his father's system had the fault in his practical and emotional life, which has been neglected. James Mill's method was designed to make his son's mind a first-rate thinking machine, so that the boy might become a utilitarian preacher. Around the age of fifteen or sixteen, John read Bentham in which the principles of the utility was understood and applied. This gave him unity to his conception of...