ABSTRACT
John Stuart Mill uses On Liberty to argue that individuals should be as free as possible from their government telling them what to think and do. On Liberty contains major revisions to utilitarianism. Mill rejects the calculation that expects individual pleasure to converge in the greatest general happiness. Instead Mill offers a passionate defense of an active, holistic view of individual fulfillment that leads to general happiness. He tackles the problem of the tyranny of the majority on the progress of knowledge. Mill was raised as a utilitarian by his father James Mill, and On Liberty reflects how that philosophy affected his attempt to work out what is best for society. Mill puts a novel twist on the basic tenets of liberal thought, arguing that individual freedom is crucial to the moral dimension of social progress. Arguing that individual liberty leads to a superior kind of life sets Mill apart from the liberal tradition he inherited.
