Thoughts on Parliamentary Reform de John Stuart Mill

Thoughts on Parliamentary Reform

John Stuart Mill

en Limba Engleză Paperback – 30 apr 2009

One of the foremost figures of Western thought in the late 19th century, John Stuart Mill was also a progressive liberal whose passion, intellect, and dedication to change will be instantly recognizable to political activists today. This "pamphlet," written in 1859 in anticipation of massive reform in the British Parliament, will remind readers in the early 21st century of the many vocal, thoughtful bloggers who today impact thinking on politics and society. Touching on such hot-button issues-of Mill's day and ours-as the rights of voters and the necessity of an educated electorate, this powerful essay will enthrall those with an interest in contemporary politics as well as students of history and philosophy. English philosopher and politician JOHN STUART MILL (1806-1873) served as an administrator in the East Indian Company from 1823 to 1858, and as a member of parliament from 1865 to 1868. Among his essays on a wide range of political and social thought are Principles of Political Economy (1848), Considerations on Representative Government (1861), and The Subjection of Women (1869).

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Notă biografică

John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 - 8 May 1873), usually cited as J. S. Mill, was a British philosopher, political economist, and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to social theory, political theory, and political economy. Dubbed "the most influential English-speaking philosopher of the nineteenth century",[8] Mill's conception of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state and social control.[9] Mill was a proponent of utilitarianism, an ethical theory developed by his predecessor Jeremy Bentham. He contributed to the investigation of scientific methodology, though his knowledge of the topic was based on the writings of others, notably William Whewell, John Herschel, and Auguste Comte, and research carried out for Mill by Alexander Bain. Mill engaged in written debate with Whewell.[10] A member of the Liberal Party, he was also the second Member of Parliament to call for women's suffrage after Henry Hunt in 1832 John Stuart Mill was born at 13 Rodney Street in Pentonville, Middlesex, the eldest son of the Scottish philosopher, historian and economist James Mill, and Harriet Barrow. John Stuart was educated by his father, with the advice and assistance of Jeremy Benthamand Francis Place. He was given an extremely rigorous upbringing, and was deliberately shielded from association with children his own age other than his siblings. His father, a follower of Bentham and an adherent of associationism, had as his explicit aim to create a genius intellect that would carry on the cause of utilitarianism and its implementation after he and Bentham had died. Mill was a notably precocious child. He describes his education in his autobiography. At the age of three he was taught Greek.[14] By the age of eight, he had read Aesop's Fables, Xenophon's Anabasis,[14] and the whole of Herodotus,[14] and was acquainted with Lucian, Diogenes Laërtius, Isocrates and six dialogues of Plato.[14] He had also read a great deal of history in English and had been taught arithmetic, physics and astronomy. At the age of eight, Mill began studying Latin, the works of Euclid, and algebra, and was appointed schoolmaster to the younger children of the family. His main reading was still history, but he went through all the commonly taught Latin and Greek authors and by the age of ten could read Plato and Demosthenes with ease. His father also thought that it was important for Mill to study and compose poetry. One of Mill's earliest poetic compositions was a continuation of the Iliad. In his spare time he also enjoyed reading about natural sciences and popular novels, such as Don Quixote and Robinson Crusoe.