Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
One Woodrow Wilson Plaza, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20004-3027
T 202/691-4000
John Stuart Mill's "Very Simple Principle"
Wherever there's a debate over gay marriage, free speech, or even smoking in public places, the arguments John Stuart Mill made in On Liberty are still in the thick of the action.
Almost everybody who cares about science or ideas knows by now that 2009 is the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, as well as the 200th anniversary of its author’s birth. Origin of Species is rightly hailed by scientists and non-scientists alike as one of the foundations of modern thought, but it was far from the only important work that came off the presses in 1859. While we might well discount Samuel Smiles’s mega-bestseller Self-Help, the eponym of a genre that flourishes like kudzu, the same momentous year brought forth John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty, the most passionate treatise on human freedom ever written, and a perennially sacred scripture to the world’s civil libertarians.
To read the rest of this article, please consider becoming a WQ subscriber, which allows online access to the current WQ issue as well as archive content. Other access options are below.
Research, browse, and discover more than 35 years of articles, essays, and reviews by preeminent scholars and writers. Our searchable archive of back issues is free for WQ subscribers.
 |
 |
 |
Subscribe today
to the WQ Online
and receive immediate access
to the WQ archive for a full year.
Subscribe Now
-
Christopher Clausen, a professor of English at Pennsylvania State University, is the author most recently of Faded Mosaic: The Emergence of Post-Cultural America (2000).
To order this book from Amazon.com, click on the link:
more from this author >>
The Pursuit of Happiness in Times of War
They Call It Home
Ethnic and religious violence keep Russia's North Caucasus region in the news. A portrait of daily life in one small village reveals a richer, more hopeful reality.The Pessimist Persuasion
Throughout history, many intellectuals have been willing to write their society's obituary long before the game was up.Last Man Standing
It’s no cause for celebration, but the global financial crisis shows why the United States remains the indispensable nation.
The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and in no way represent the views or opinions of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. This section is moderated by Wilson Quarterly staff.
John Stuart Mills
I've been meaning to check out this book. I think that after reading this article, I'm going to buy it online. A book is always worth reading at least once if it is still relevant years after being published! -Renee J.
Posted by: coupons | 2/16/11