×
welcome covers

Your complimentary articles

You’ve read all of your complimentary articles for this month. To have complete access to the thousands of philosophy articles on this site, please


If you are a subscriber please sign in to your account.

To buy or renew a subscription please visit the Shop.

If you are a print subscriber you can contact us to create an online account.

Philosophical Haiku

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)

by Terence Green

The worst tyranny:
Fear not the oppressive state
but nosey neighbours.

JS Mill

John Stuart Mill’s upbringing was not entirely typical. His father James was chummy with Jeremy Bentham, and shared Bentham’s enthusiasm for the utilitarian approach to life. In practice, this meant that basing your decisions upon your feelings was seen as a weak, womanly thing, while being rational about everything was manly and admirable.