![]() ![]() ![]() Such an autonomous individual expresses individuality, creativity, originality, and self-development. Mill’s progressive individual epitomizes the dignity of a thinking being, who seeks truth rationally and exercises conscious choice rather than blindly following custom or prejudice. Individuals ought to derive their views from experience, and develop them with reason. In On Liberty (1859), Mill presents a theory of human nature which stresses individuality and self-development as characteristically progressive traits, and so what a good society should foster. In addition, laws and social arrangements should connect the happiness of individuals with the common good. Education and public opinion, which form human character, should be used to establish individual happiness and thereby the good of all. Consequently, one of the principal purposes of social and political institutions, he said, is to develop human potential to its highest level. ![]() But he understood that his utilitarian goal – ‘the greatest happiness for the greatest number’ – cannot be realized apart from the greatest moral and intellectual advancement of humanity. John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor Mill by Gail Campbell Mill’s Liberal Egalitarianismįor Mill, as for all utilitarians, happiness is the center of the moral life, being the most desirable goal for human beings. ![]()
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