John Stuart Mill: Philosopher of Liberty and Feminism

John Stuart Mill was born on May 20, 1806, in Pentonville, London, and died on May 8, 1873, in France. The son of Scottish historian and philosopher James Mill, he was educated rigorously in mathematics and classical literature. An empiricist, he developed an inductive logical system based on individual experience. After a period of depression caused by his father's pedagogical harshness, he synthesized utilitarian and liberal thought. In his essay 'On Liberty,' he defined censorship as a crime and championed diversity. He married Harriet Taylor, a feminist who co-authored 'The Subjection of Women,' which argued for gender equality in family, education, and suffrage. The work became a symbol for the suffragette movement and 20th-century political freedoms. Taylor died of tuberculosis in 1858; Mill died of erysipelas in 1873.