Education and Childhood

  • Born on May 20,1806 in London, England
  • Died on May 8, 1873
  • English philosopher
  • Political Economist
  • Civil Servant

John Stuart Mill was the oldest son of James Mill and Harriet Burrow.  He was taught by his father who was a very rational economist and author among other titles. Young John was intentionally shielded from associating with other children his age. His father was merely trying to create an intellectual genius who would be able to continue to carry out the cause of utilitarianism after he passed (Mill.)  John was taught Greek at the age of three even though he barely remembers the beginning lessons because he was so young.  He began learning Latin at the age of eight.  He was well educated by his teen years. In the evenings, his father taught him arithmetic.  He would tell his father all that he had learned the next day when they took walks.   John’s father also thought it was important that he understood and could write poetry.  One of John’s first pieces was a continuation of the Iliad (Mill.)  After learning how to thoroughly  analyze books and issues at the age of twelve, he was given economic lessons.  These lessons helped his father write the Elements of Political Economy in 1821.

John  left for France at the age of fourteen to stay with the family of Sir Samuel Bentham .  Samuel Bentham was the one who formally created the theory of utilitarianism.  In France, he enjoyed the gorgeous scenery and the people.  His studies did not stop while in France.  He stayed in Paris for a while with another friend of his fathers who was a renowned economist.  He met a lot of influential leaders of the Liberal Party and other important people of the time while in Paris.

A year later, he returned and his father was no longer his schoolteacher even though his teachings were still directed by his father.  His father taught him well; he was not forced to rehearse any of his lessons from memory.  His father worked hard to make the understanding of the lesson come even before the teaching.  John was never taught anything that he could learn by thinking which became challenging for him.  Young John was He also was never allowed to hear himself be praised, nor did his father want him to flatter himself by comparing with others.  This caused John Stuart Mill to be an extremely humble man.

Unfortunately, his strenuous studies proved to be detrimental to his mental health.  At only the age of twenty, he suffered from a nervous breakdown.  Luckily, his poor mental state started to improve with the reading of Mémoires of Jean-François Marmontel and the poetry of William Wordsworth (Mill.)  He also started writing with Auguste Comte, the founder of positivism and sociology.  His influence had a great impact of some of John’s biggest life decisions.  He refused to take Angelican orders and consequently refused to study at University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge.  Instead, he worked with his father at the East India Company for thirty-eight years.

 

References:

“John Stuart Mill.” The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. 2008. Library of Economics and Liberty. Retrieved April 13, 2014 from the World Wide Web: http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Mill.html

John Stuart Mill . (2014). The Biography.com website. Retrieved 08:50, Apr 10, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/john-stuart-mill-9408210.

John Stuart Mill. (2014). The Famous People website. Retrieved 12:47, Apr 7, 2014, from http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/john-stuart-mill-150.php.

Mill, J. S. (1873). Autobiography. Retrieved April 10,2014.  New York : P.F. COLLIER & SON COMPANY.