John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)

John Stuart Mill was a British philosopher as well as a political economist. His work tremendously influenced liberal political theory and utilitarianism. Mill's utilitarianism asserts that actions are morally right only if they are intended to promote happiness and wrong if they produce the opposite of happiness. Mill’s definition of happiness is the absence of pain and the presence of pleasurable feelings. He believed that if one were to be faced with a decision, that doing what makes the majority of the affected population happy is the most just contemplation for an answer. John distinguished that between the higher functions of the body, which consists of the intellectual pleasures, and the lower functions of the body, physical pleasures, the intellectual part of the body function is superior to the physical part of the body. In one of Mill’s works, Harm Principle, he argues that in order to keep society at peace, people are allowed to do whatever they want as long as it does not affect another individual's life with harm or malicious intent. Mill opened a great door for individuals with the advocacy for freedom of speech. He exclaimed that absolute freedom of expression is essential for discovering truth and knowledge. Mill emphasized that each person has their own mind and body and that society, or the government should interfere in personal choices that do not harm others. This philosopher advocated for many individual rights, as control is something to be steered away from when no harm is being done. This opinion of his left questions as to what one would consider to be morally wrong or harmful. This question was raised long before Mill’s theory became noticed. In fact, it is one of the most commonly asked questions pertaining to the philosophy world. What proof do we have that a right and wrong exists?