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John Stuart Mill investigates the central elements of the 19th century philosopher's most profound and influential works, from On Liberty to Utilitarianism and The Subjection of Women. Through close analysis of his primary works, it reveals the very heart of the thinker's ideas, and examines them in the context of utilitarianism, liberalism and the British empiricism prevalent in Mill's day. Presents an analysis of the full range of Mill's primary writings, getting to the core of the philosopher's ideas. Examines the central elements of Mill's writings in easily accessible prose Places Mill'

"Frederick Rosen presents an original study of John Stuart Mill's moral and political philosophy, which explores the main themes of his writings--particularly those that emerge from the two major works, System of Logic (1843) and Principles of Political Economy (1848). From these, Mill developed the more widely-read later essays, On Liberty (1859), Utilitarianism (1861), Considerations on Representative Government (1861), and The Subjection of Women (1869). He was one of the greatest thinkers of the nineteenth century, and attempted to understand the political as well as intellectual struggles of his time, including those between capitalism and socialism, liberty and despotism, and Christianity and secular forces (particularly the sciences) that seemed to undermine religious belief. Rosen examines Mill's complex relationships with other contemporary thinkers (such as Jeremy Bentham, James Mill, Auguste Comte, George Grote, and Harriet Taylor Mill), and his philosophical sources, including Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, and Hume; and goes on to illustrate Mill's influence on subsequent philosophers, logicians, and economists. Rosen considers Mill's approaches to the study of active character and happiness in his work on logic and in the study of political economy, from which new interpretations of his ideas of liberty, justice, equality, and utility follow. Many of the debates with which Mill was engaged remain part of contemporary life, and Rosen's book is a guide for exploring and resolving them. Mill's ideas, his arguments, and the versions of utilitarianism and liberalism that he developed have created a humane, civilising philosophy for our times."--Publisher's website

Harriet Taylor Mill (1807–1858) poses a unique set of problems for an encyclopedist. The usual approach to writing an entry on a historical figure, namely presenting a straightforward summary of her major works and then offering a few words of appraisal, cannot be carried out in her case. This is because she worked in such close collaboration with John Stuart Mill that it is exceedingly difficult to disentangle her contributions to the products of their joint effort from his, and the few pieces that we can declare without fear of contradiction to have been written primarily by her—some of which are published, some not—are philosophically slight. In attempting to assess Taylor Mill's philosophical career, one encounters sharply conflicting reports about her intellect from people who knew her, contradictory evidence about what if any important philosophical works belong to her corpus as an author, and widely varying judgments about how much influence she exerted on Mill's thought and work.

1. The autobiography 1806-1826 -- 2. The autobiography 1826-1840 -- 3. A system of logic -- 4. Utilitarianism -- 5. Liberty and the subjection of women -- 6. The principles of political economy -- 7. Representative government -- 8. Hamilton, Comte and religion.

Miller v. Alabama appeared to strengthen constitutional protections for juvenile sentencing that the United States Supreme Court recognized in Roper v. Simmons and Graham v. Florida. In Roper, the Court held that executing a person for a crime committed as a juvenile is unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. In Graham, the Court held that sentencing a person to life without parole for a nonhomicide offense committed as a juvenile is unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. In Miller, the Court held that a mandatory sentence of life without parole for a homicide offense committed by a juvenile is also unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. When Miller was decided, "nearly 2,500 prisoners [were] presently serving life sentences without the possibility of parole for murders they committed before the age of 18," with over 2,000 of them sentenced under a mandatory sentencing scheme. But with no explicit pronouncement regarding retroactivity, states were left to determine whether Miller applied to persons whose sentences were already final by the time Miller was decided. States that considered Miller retroactive then had to determine how those persons should be resentenced. There was also a prospective problem: aside from knowing that certain mandatory sentencing schemes were unconstitutional, states were left to apply the Court's observations regarding the differences between youth and adults for purposes of sentencing. In the three years since Miller, states have responded with a variety of approaches; some state legislatures responded proactively, while others let their courts decide. Some states have been faithful to the premise that juveniles should be sentenced differently from adults, while others have resisted it. The result is a patchwork of sentencing regimes that has benefited some juveniles, but has left thousands of others languishing in prison with no meaningful change to their sentences. Commentator Mary Berkheiser notes: "The worst of it is that those who were sentenced to die in prison ...

Cover -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- A Note on the Citation of Mill's Works -- Introduction -- 1 Answers to the Question 'What is Political Theory?' -- Introduction -- TRADITIONALIST ANSWERS -- Being and Knowing (Traditionalist) -- Reading Political Theory (Traditionalist) -- HISTORICIST ANSWERS -- Being and Knowing (Historicist) -- Reading Political Theory (Historicist) -- LINGUISTIC ANSWERS -- Being and Knowing (Linguistic) -- Reading Political Theory (Linguistic) -- BEHAVIOURALIST ANSWERS -- Being and Knowing (Behaviouralist) -- Reading Political Theory (Behaviouralist) -- Not Reading Mill (Behaviouralist) -- CONCLUSION -- 2 Reading Mill within a Traditionalist Framework -- Introducing Traditionalist Reading -- Introduction -- HUMAN NATURE -- Psychology -- Necessity and Free Will -- Women -- Human Nature -- THE GOOD LIFE -- Individuality -- Pleasure -- Tradition and Custom -- The Good Life -- THE GOOD SOCIETY -- History -- The Stationary State -- Socialism -- The Proper Role of Government -- Education -- Self-Regarding Actions -- The Good Society -- CONCLUSION -- 3 Reading Mill within an Historicist Framework -- Introducing Historicist Reading -- Introduction -- A PSYCHOLOGICAL-HISTORICIST READING -- Introduction -- Psychological Crisis and Understanding Mill on Associationism, Necessity and Individuality -- The Crisis -- Associationism -- Necessity -- Individuality -- Relationships with Key Individuals and Understanding Mill on Women -- Relationships with Key Individuals -- Women -- Conclusion -- AN INTELLECTUAL-HISTORICIST READING -- Introduction -- Bentham, Wordsworth and Understanding Mill on Pleasure -- Bentham -- Wordsworth -- Understanding Mill on Pleasure -- The Classical Economists, Comte and Understanding Mill on History and the Stationary State -- The Classical Economists -- Comte -- Understanding Mill on History.

This book offers a clear and highly readable introduction to the ethical and social-political philosophy of John Stuart Mill.Dale E. Miller argues for a 'utopian' reading of Mill's utilitarianism. He analyses Mill's views on happiness and goes on to show the practical, social and political implications that can be drawn from his utilitarianism, especially in relation to the construction of morality, individual freedom, democratic reform, and economic organization. By highlighting the utopian thinking which lies at the heart of Mill's theories, Miller shows that rather than allowing for well-being for the few, Mill believed that a society must do everything in its power to see to it that each individual can enjoy a genuinely happy life if the happiness of its members is to be maximized. Miller provides a cogent and careful account of the main arguments offered by Mill, considers the critical responses to his work, and assesses its legacy for contemporary philosophy.Lucidly and persuasively written, this book will be a valuable resource for students and scholars seeking to understand the continued importance of Mill's thinking.