Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR’d book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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Originally published in 1915.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

This printing is GARBAGE.
I agree with the first reviewer.Mill's work is spectacular, but this printing is an INSULT to a great thinker and human being.The text is barely legible, and in the copy I received a number of pages had the text cropped off on the left side.Unbelievable that anyone thinks they can sell this for 40 dollars!It's really a disgrace.I would have written to the publisher, but I didn't see an address.Pitiful, just pitiful.

They really should offer a "Look Inside"...
Then you'd get some idea how badly your eyes would hurt trying to read this reprint.The quality is horrible, just horrible.It reminds me of the first faxes I saw (back in the 80s, right?).That being said, everyone should have a copy of this book, and (ever the optimist) the poor quality of print forces you to read slowly which is something the material in this book cries for on its own.Do not rely on the received view of Mill, especially the view propogated by Frege, Ayer, Russell, et al. that Mill held the bizarre view that at some point 2+2 might not =4.Read what he actually says for yourself!In the end, I'm grateful to have my own personal copy of this unsung classic of philosophy; so grateful, in fact, that I don't have too much heartburn over having paid a pretty penny for a crappy reprint.Still, the print of this edition (the only other edition I've seen is one from around 1900), is so poor, I have to give this edition (the yellow cover w/ full title) only 2 stars.So, I'd probably try the other edition first, but if this was the only one I could get, I'd still get it just for the value of having Mill's own words at my beck and call. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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Mill is perhaps the most talked-about British philosopher of the 19th century. This series focuses on bringing to light the scarce Mill studies which, despite their importance, have not been available recently. Also included are some general works on Mill's "utilitarian" tradition. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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This long-anticipated Norton Critical Edition represents an extensiverevision of its predecessor, On Liberty, edited by the late DavidSpitz.Alan Ryan's provocative introduction lays out the central issues debated by John Stuart Mill's many interpreters; in addition, it assesses Mill's historical significance and provides a brief account of his life. In recent years, scholars have increasingly focused on the connectionbetween On Liberty and Mill's other writings. This Norton CriticalEdition brings together three major essays that illustrate Mill'sliberal political philosophy over the course of his life: "The Spiritof the Age" (1831), On Liberty (1859), and The Subjection of Women(1869). Related excerpts from John Stuart Mill's Autobiography (1873,published posthumously) are also included. Each text is accompanied byexplanatory annotations.

"Commentary" collects seven major assessments of Mill's writings. Thecontemporary perspectives of R. H. Hutton and James Fitzjames Stephenand the more recent analyses of Isaiah Berlin, Gertrude Himmelfarb,John C. Rees, Jeremy Waldron, and Susan Moller Okin provide readerswith a critical overview of one of the most important of modernpolitical philosophers.

A Selected Bibliography and an Index are included. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The great defender of individual liberty
John Stuart Mill, 1806-73, worked for the East India Co. helped run Colonial India from England.Minister of Parliament 1865-68 he served one term.Maiden speech was a disaster his second was great success.He was first MP to propose that women should be given the vote on equal footing with the men who could vote.He got 1/3 support, England gives franchise to women after U.S.He was a great Feminist, his essay "Subjection of Women" is written with great passion and prose.It was a brave position for him to take he was ridiculed for it.He favored democracy, and letting more men from lower classes the right to vote, but believed that people that are more educated should have more votes then less educated because they would make better decisions about what government should do.He would have wanted to extend education to the masses, so that all may have gotten 2-3 votes and so on.He didn't think it should be extended to where a small elite could carry the day on votes.The idea was that if the working class, and middle class, where divided on an issue, the people with more intelligence would have the power to tip the balance.Mill thought that people with more education would probably not only be better able to make political decisions, especially in terms of intellectually being able to see what would be best for the government to do, but that they would also be more concerned about the common good publicly then people in general.He was intensely educated by his father James.John could read Greek, and Latin at 6 yrs.; his Dad tutored him at home.Dad thought environment was everything.He was treated like an adult, never played games with kids; he had a very cerebral upbringing.He had a period of depression in his twenties, it changed his philosophy, and he recognized the importance of developing feelings along with the intellect, this is something that he stressed in his work.He read poetry to get out of depression; he became devoted to poetry and became a romantic.He fell in love with a married woman Harriet Taylor, was a platonic relationship, after her husband's death they married 3 years later and probably never consummated the marriage maybe due to his having syphilis.His dedication to "On Liberty" is to her, very devoted to each other.Both buried together in Avignon France where they used to vacation.

Mill as a moral theorist subscribed to a theory we call Utilitarianism.It means---In some way morality is about the maximization of happiness.Whether actions are right or wrong depends on how happiness can be most effectively maximized.I say in some way, because there are allot of different kinds of Utilitarians.Allot of different ways of saying exactly how it is the maximization of happiness comes into morality.Therefore, happiness is clearly an important idea for Utilitarians.Mill has a hedonistic view of happiness, he thinks that happiness can be defined in terms of "pleasure in the absence of pain."What is distinctive about Mill in this area is that he believes that some kinds of pleasure are better than others are, and add more to a person's happiness than other kinds of pleasures.He believes in what he calls, "higher quality pleasures."These are pleasures, he says, that we get from the exercise of faculties that only human beings happen to have.So the intellect, imagination, the moral feelings, these are the sources of higher quality pleasures people use.His view seems to be that a certain quantity of intellectual pleasure just adds more to your happiness, and a given quantity of some lower pleasure like a kind we would share with the animals such as sensation, taste, sexual pleasure, etc.His "higher quality pleasures" in a way echo Aristotle's ethics.The idea of those things that make us distinctly human that are the real key to our happiness, that is in Mill also.It is not as limited to reason and intellect as Aristotle thinks.Mill recognizes the importance of the appreciation of beauty, aesthetic pleasure, and moral pleasure.He frankly owes a debt to Aristotle that he never properly acknowledges, never gives him proper credit.

"On Liberty" is Mill's is his most widely read and enduring work.It is an indispensable essay on political thought, which strenuously argues for individual liberty.He is defending what he calls the "liberty principle."It is a principle that guarantees individuals quite a bit of personal freedom."That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant."These quoted sentences in John Stuart Mill's book, "On Liberty," embody the crux of his argument; that the power of the state must intrude as little as possible on the liberty of its citizenry.In essence, Mill was against using the power of the state through its lawmaking apparatus to compel citizens to conduct themselves in ways that society deems moral or appropriate.Mill thought that people had not only a right, but also a duty to develop their intellectual faculties, which is indispensable to maximize their happiness.He believed that society improved for all its citizens when they where left unfettered to the maximum extent possible, allowing them to use their imagination and intellect to improve themselves.Mill postulates a theory that societies usually institute laws based primarily on "personal preference" of its citizenry instead of established principles.This lack of clarity of opinion often leads to the government frequently interfering in the lives of its citizens unnecessarily.For Mill, there are very few times when the state can infringe on the personal liberty of others.Firstly, the state has the right to promulgate laws that prevent a person's actions from harming others.Secondly, the state must protect those citizens who are not mature enough to protect themselves, such as children.Thirdly, he exempts, "... backward states of society in which the race itself may be considered as in its nonage."In Mill's view, immature societies need a benevolent leader to rule them until they have developed to a point where they, "... have attained the capacity of being guided to their own improvement by conviction or persuasion ..."Mill said this third exemption did not apply to any of the countries in Europe.Mill believed that forced morality by the state on its citizen's liberties was destructive to their inward development, and could even lead to a violent reaction by them against the government.


There are different parts of his defense of this, different arguments that he gives.He has a long chapter on freedom of speech and press.He has some very specific reasons why he thinks those freedoms are important.Always in the background for Mill is the idea of development, and making it possible for more people to enjoy these higher quality pleasures.How do we help people develop their distinctly human faculties, in ways that will help them enjoy their higher quality pleasures?Because for him that is the way, we maximize the total amount of happiness that is enjoyed in the world, and that is the object of morality as far as he is concerned.Utilitarianists believe that maximizing happiness is ultimately, what morality is all about.That does not mean maximizing your own happiness that means maximizing the total amount of happiness that is enjoyed, not only by yourself but also by everybody else as well.

Roger Kimball, in his book "Experiments Against Reality" wrote, "On Liberty" was published in 1859, coincidentally the same year as "On the Origin of Species."Darwin's book has been credited--and blamed--for all manner of moral and religious mischief.But in the long run "On Liberty" may have effected an even greater revolution in sentiment.

I read this book for a graduate class in Philosophy.Recommended reading for anyone interested in philosophy, political science, and history.

an excellent plunge into liberal thought
John Stuart Mill sets the stage for all liberal political thought.He discusses such topics as the role of society over the individual, the role of the individual over society, the death penalty, the importance of the individual, the ideal voter, the ideal citizen, the role of women in society, and the importance of personal liberty.Alan Ryan superbly organizes this edition by also including some constructive criticisms of Mill's thought in the last partition.This book is an excellent edition for any student of political philosophy. ... Read more

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Mill is often thought of as an eclectic and unsystematic writer, whose views on freedom contradict his views on moral right and wrong, whose views on causation contradict his views on syllogistic inference and so on. This text argues that Mill both saw his views as part of a systematic defence of empiricist epistemology and utilitarian ethics, and was to a large extent successful in offering a coherent and connected defence of this system. Mill aimed to show that we could possess a knowledge of individual and social human nature equal to our knowledge of the material world; the point of showing this was to erect on the science of human nature a utilitarian ethics in which freedom and self-realization for as many people as possible could be achieved. From the philosophy of mathematics to the defence of individual liberty, Mill attacked the prevailing "intuitive" theories and put a subtle empiricism in their place.Since the first edition of this study in 1970, many writers have contributed a more systematic understanding of Mill's programme for philosophy, ethics and social science, and the author's preface to this second edition briefly assesses the way Mill appeared in this later climate of opinion. ... Read more

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Including new material as well as previously published articles, John Rees here brings his abilities as both a historian of ideas and a political philosopher to bear in this combination of historical and textual research and philosophical analysis of liberty.A major contribution to the existing literature on Mill, it is also a tribute to an important scholar. ... Read more

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The 'Art of Life' is John Stuart Mill's name for his account of practical reason. In this volume, eleven leading scholars elucidate this fundamental, but widely neglected, element of Mill's thought. Mill divides the Art of Life into three 'departments': 'Morality, Prudence or Policy, and Æsthetics'. In the volume's first section, Rex Martin, David Weinstein, Ben Eggleston, and Dale E. Miller investigate the relation between the departments of morality and prudence. Their papers ask whether Mill is a rule utilitarian and, if so, whether his practical philosophy must be incoherent. The second section contains papers by Jonathan Riley and Wendy Donner, who explore the relation between the departments of morality and aesthetics. They discuss issues ranging from supererogation to aesthetic pleasure and humanity's relationship with nature.

The papers in the third section consider the Art of Life's axiological first principle, the principle of utility. Elijah Millgram contends that Mill's own life refutes his claim that the Art of Life has a single axiological first principle. Philip Kitcher maintains that Mill has a dynamic axiology requiring us to continually refine our conception of the good. In the final section, three papers address what it means to put the Art of Life into practice. Robert Haraldsson locates an 'Art of Ethics' in On Libertythat is in tension with the Art of Life. Nadia Urbinati plumbs the classical roots of Mill's view of the good life. Finally, Colin Heydt develops Mill's suggestion that we regard our own lives as works of art. ... Read more