john stuart mill 1806 1873 was an influential philosopher economist and politician as well as a high level employee of the east india company a controversial figure in 19th century britain he advocated the use of classical economic theory philosophical thought and social awareness in political decision making and legislation 
many of his views including those on the legal status of women and the issue of slavery were progressive for his time he was a co founder of the first women s suffragist society and sided with the union during the u s civil war 1mill combined economics with philosophy he believed in a moral theory called utilitarianism that actions that lead to people s happiness are right and that those that lead to suffering are wrong he s best known for his 1848 book principles of political economy a leading economic textbook for decades after its publication 2 other significant works include on liberty a system of logic the subjection of women and utilitarianism investopedia zoe hansenearly life and educationjohn stuart mill was born in london the eldest son of the british historian economist and philosopher james mill and his wife harriet barrow his father gave him a rigorous education introducing him to greek at the age of three and to latin when he was eight mathematics and economic theory were also part of the curriculum 3much of john stuart mill s beliefs thoughts and influential works can be attributed to this upbringing and the ideology taught to him by james mill his father became acquainted with the leading political theorist jeremy bentham in 1808 and together they started a political movement that embraced philosophical radicalism and utilitarianism which advocates the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people it was during this time that the young mill was indoctrinated with the economic theory political thinking and social beliefs that would shape his later work his challenging childhood may have been responsible for the severe depression that dogged mill in 1826 1827 he found his way out of this malaise largely through reading the romantic poets whose work appears to have given him an appreciation for the power of emotions and an urgency for social reform this led him to new directions in his thinking 3another important influence on mill s life was his wife harriet taylor who he married in 1830 the pair worked so closely together on his writings that he is said to have considered her the co author of many of his works 3mill worked for many years for the powerful east india company he joined it at age 16 and was employed there for 38 years 4during 1865 68 mill served as a member of parliament mp representing the city of westminster notable accomplishmentsjohn stuart mill is considered one of the most influential british thought leaders on political discourse including epistemology economics ethics metaphysics social and political philosophy he used his numerous articles essays and books to compare the legal status of women at the time to the legal status of slaves to promote radical empiricism as a function of mathematics and to pioneer the harm principle the idea that political power should only be wielded over a member of an organization when that power is used to prevent harm to that member while a passionate believer in freedom and individual rights as an economist mill was not a consistent advocate of a laissez faire system he favored taxes and government oversight such as workplace regulations and limits to workers hours his later writings suggest a shift away from classic economics belief in the free marketplace and capitalism towards socialism or at least a mixed economy elaborating on the theories of early economists david ricardo and adam smith mills helped develop such economic concepts as opportunity cost economies of scale and comparative advantage in trade 2in order of publication mill s best known works include the utilitarian creed which accepts as the foundation of morals utility or the greatest happiness principle holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness by happiness is intended pleasure and the absence of pain by unhappiness pain and the privation of pleasure john stuart mill utilitarianismpersonal lifethe love of mill s life was harriet hardy taylor after two decades of a close friendship when she was the wife of another man they married in 1851 an intelligent liberal thinker and writer in her own right taylor inspired much of mill s work he openly acknowledges her influence in the subjection of women and she may well have edited or co written some of his pieces certainly she helped turn mill s attention to the progressive ideals which she was passionate about socialism women s rights individual liberty and a utopian view of humanity s improvability 7