William Thomas Thornton, one of John Stuart Mill's colleagues at the East India Company, (and a writer on political economy—it seems the Company's employees were involved in serious intellectual activities, of a kind that we can scarcely imagine taking place among the professional classes today), recorded a remarkable episode in Mill's life in a book … Continue reading A Curious Episode in the Life of John Stuart Mill
Tag: J. S. Mill
Literary life in the English countryside
The passage below belongs to one of the drafts of John Stuart Mill's autobiography, and was not included in the final version. It is a description of a daily routine that any philosopher must envy: continual study, easy access to natural scenery, and the relaxation of social gatherings. As it is difficult to conceive of … Continue reading Literary life in the English countryside
J. S. Mill: How to Become a Philosopher
In an 1862 letter, John Stuart Mill gave the following advice to an aspiring writer: "The way to cultivate a really philosophical intellect is to go on long thinking out subjects for one’s own instruction—with a view to understand them as thoroughly as possible oneself; reading in the meanwhile whatever is best worth reading on … Continue reading J. S. Mill: How to Become a Philosopher
Notes in the Margins of the Days 