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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 all things "I now had opinions; a creed, a doctrine, a philosophy; in one among the best senses of the word, a religion; the inculcation and diffusion of which could be made the principle outward purpose of a life."(John Stuart Mill). Soon afterwards he formed a small "Utilitarian Society" and adopted his father's philosophical and political views. He took a position under his father in the India Office had secured him against the misfortune of having to depend on literary work for his livelihood; and he found that office-work left him ample leisure for the pursuit of his wider interests, Utilitarianism.
             What is Utilitarianism??? The principle of utility states that an action is "right if it produces as much or more of an increase in happiness of all affected by it than any alternative action, and wrong if it does not". Its basis is the idea that pleasure and happiness is valuable, that pain and suffering are intrinsically invaluable, and that everything else has value only if it causes happiness or preventing suffering.


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