Philosopher · Modern
John Stuart Mill
1806–1873 · Utilitarian liberalism
Raised without religion by his father; his posthumous Three Essays on Religion allow at most a finite, probable God.
Mill refined Bentham's utilitarianism with a distinction of higher and lower pleasures, defended in On Liberty the “harm principle” that society may coerce the individual only to prevent harm to others, and in A System of Logic made even mathematics empirical. He championed free discussion, representative government and the equality of women.
Why he matters: The harm principle is the working ethic of modern liberal societies and the view Libertas (1888) and Veritatis Splendor answer; Anscombe's “Modern Moral Philosophy” and Veritatis Splendor 74–75 are written against his consequentialism; MacIntyre's After Virtue traces the emotivist end of his road.
Where to be careful
Utilitarianism is rejected because it denies intrinsically evil acts (Veritatis Splendor 71–83); his liberty of indifference and his making truth emerge from opinion sit against Libertas and Dei Filius; his empiricism denies the natural knowledge of God and the spiritual soul.
Documented positions
Where this thinker stands on each dispute the test covers.