Philosophy Eliot, Charles W. (editor): Harvard Classics Volume 25 V1.0 6 Jan 2014

[GeorgeH]

The Harvard Classics Volume 25 (Mill, Carlyle) Published 1909

Edited by Charles W Eliot LL D. (March 20, 1834 - August 22, 1926)

John Stuart Mill, FRSE (20 May 1806 – 8 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist and civil servant. He was an influential contributor to social theory, political theory and political economy. He has been called "the most influential English-speaking philosopher of the nineteenth century". Mill's conception of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control. He was a proponent of utilitarianism, an ethical theory developed by Jeremy Bentham. Hoping to remedy the problems found in an inductive approach to science, such as confirmation bias, he clearly set forth the premises of falsifiability as the key component in the scientific method. Mill was also a Member of Parliament and an important figure in liberal political philosophy.

Mill's Autobiography describes the pressures placed on him by his childhood, the mental breakdown he suffered as a young man, his struggle to understand a world of feelings and emotions far removed from his father's strict didacticism, and the later development of his own beliefs. A moving account of an extraordinary life, this great autobiography reveals a man of deep integrity, constantly searching for truth.

On Liberty is a philosophical work originally intended as a short essay. The work, published in 1859, applies Mill's ethical system of utilitarianism to society and the state. Mill attempts to establish standards for the relationship between authority and liberty. He emphasizes the importance of individuality which he conceived as a prerequisite to the higher pleasures—the summum bonum of Utilitarianism. Furthermore, Mill criticised the errors of past attempts to defend individuality where, for example, democratic ideals resulted in the "tyranny of the majority". Among the standards established in this work are Mill's three basic liberties of individuals, his three legitimate objections to government intervention, and his two maxims regarding the relationship of the individual to society "which together form the entire doctrine of [Mill's] Essay."

Thomas Carlyle (4 December 1795 – 5 February 1881) was a Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era. He called economics "the dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator. Carlyle's strict Calvinist parents expected him to become a preacher, but he lost his Christian faith while attending the University of Edinburgh, although Calvinist values remained with him throughout his life. His combination of religious temperament with loss of faith in traditional Christianity made Carlyle's work appealing to many Victorians who grappled with scientific and political changes that threatened the traditional social order.

Characteristics is an 1831 commentary on [then] modern times.

Inaugural Address at Edinburgh is Carlyle's address to the staff and students on being installed as Rector of Edinburgh University in 1866.

Essay on Scott is Carlyle's 1838 review of Lockhart's Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart., Vols. 1-VI, originally printed in the London and Westminster Review, no. 12, 1837.

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