John Stuart Mill Trivia Questions

In 'The Subjection of Women' (1869), Mill argued for women's suffrage and equality, and as an MP he proposed a failed amendment to give women the vote.

Mill credited Taylor as a joint author, though she died before publication. Recent scholarship confirms her deep intellectual influence.

Mill was a staunch free trade advocate, following his father and Bentham. He opposed protectionism, arguing it hindered economic efficiency and peace.

Mill was raised by Bentham and lived with him as a child. Bentham personally tutored Mill in utilitarianism from a very young age.

This is the core of Mill's utilitarianism: the Greatest Happiness Principle, where pleasure and freedom from pain are the sole intrinsic goods.

Mill warned of the 'tyranny of the majority' and advocated for plural voting and protections for minority opinions to prevent democratic abuse.

Mill actually opposed capital punishment except in cases of aggravated murder, arguing it could be justified only if it served a clear deterrent purpose.

In 1823, Mill was jailed overnight for handing out neo-Malthusian pamphlets advocating contraception—a scandalous topic then.