John Stuart Mill, página 4 de 10

For some time much has been said, in England and on the Continent, concerning "Positivism" and "the Positive Philosophy." Those phrases, which during the life of the eminent thinker who introduced them had made their way into no writings or discussions but those of his very few direct disciples, have emerged from the depths and manifested themselves on the surface of the philosophy of the age. It is not very widely known what they represent, but it is understood that they represent something. They are symbols of a recognised mode of thought, and one of sufficient importance to induce almost all who now discuss the great problems of philosophy, or survey from any elevated point of view the opinions of the age, to take what is termed the Positivist view of things into serious consideration, and define their own position, more or less friendly or hostile, in regard to it. Indeed, though the mode of thought expressed by the terms Positive and Positivism is widely spread, the words themselves are, as usual, better known through the enemies of that mode of thinking than through its friends; and more than one thinker who never called himself or his opinions by those appellations, and carefully guarded himself against being confounded with those who did, finds himself, sometimes to his displeasure, though generally by a tolerably correct instinct, classed with Positivists, and assailed as a Positivist.

John Stuart Mill - Sobre la libertad es quizás una de las obras más importantes que escribió John Stuart Mill. En este libro el autor expone sus ideas fundamentales sobre los límites de la libertad d

All speculations concerning forms of government bear the impress, more or less exclusive, of two conflicting theories respecting political institutions; or, to speak more properly, conflicting conceptions of what political institutions are.By some minds, government is conceived as strictly a practical art, giving rise to no questions but those of means and an end. Forms of government are assimilated to any other expedients for the attainment of human objects. They are regarded as wholly an affair of invention and contrivance. Being made by man, it is assumed that man has the choice either to make them or not, and how or on what pattern they shall be made. Government, according to this conception, is a problem, to be worked like any other question of business. The first step is to define the purposes which governments are required to promote. The next, is to inquire what form of government is best fitted to fulfill those purposes. Having satisfied ourselves on these two points, and ascertained the form of government which combines the greatest amount of good with the least of evil, what further remains is to obtain the concurrence of our countrymen, or those for whom the institutions are intended, in the opinion which we have privately arrived at. To find the best form of government; to persuade others that it is the best; and, having done so, to stir them up to insist on having it, is the order of ideas in the minds of those who adopt this view of political philosophy. They look upon a constitution in the same light (difference of scale being allowed for) as they would upon a steam plow, or a threshing machine.To these stand opposed another kind of political reasoners, who are so far from assimilating a form of government to a machine, that they regard it as a sort of spontaneous product, and the science of government as a branch (so to speak) of natural history. According to them, forms of government are not a matter of choice. We must take them, in the main, as we find them. Governments can not be constructed by premeditated design. They "are not made, but grow."

On Liberty by John Stuart Mill On Liberty is a philosophical essay by the English philosopher John Stuart Mill. Published in 1859, it applies Mills ethical system of utilitarianism to society and state.Mill suggests standards for the relationship between authority and liberty. He emphasizes the importance of individuality, which he considers prerequisite to the higher pleasuresthe summum bonum of utilitarianism. Furthermore, Mill asserts that democratic ideals may result in the tyranny of the majority. Among the standards proposed are Mills three basic liberties of individuals, his three legitimate objections to government intervention, and his two maxims regarding the relationship of the individual to society.On Liberty was a greatly influential and well-received work. Some classical liberals and libertarians have criticized it for its apparent discontinuity[specify] with Utilitarianism, and vagueness in defining the arena within which individuals can contest government infringements on their personal freedom of action.The ideas presented in On Liberty have remained the basis of much political thought. It has remained in print since its initial publication. A copy of On Liberty is passed to the president of the British Liberal Democrats as a symbol of office.

Escrito por JOHN STUART MILL (1806-1873) entre 1850 y 1858 y revisado hasta el año de su muerte, LA NATURALEZA fue publicado de forma póstuma, junto con otros dos escritos afines -«The Utility of Rel

At three years old John Stuart Mill was studying arithmetic and Greek; by the time he was six he was enjoying Hume and Gibbon and writing Roman histories.Diffident, intellectually brilliant, fearless and profound, he became one of the greatest of the Victorian liberals and his works - particularly On Liberty, Utilitarianism, The Subjection of Women and this Autobiography - are among the crowning achievements of the age.'Ask yourself whether you are happy and you cease to be so . . .' Central to the Autobiography is Mill's moving account of the mental crisis he suffered as a young man, and his discovery of a world of feeling and emotion that drew him away from Benthamite utilitarianism and his father's ambitions for him and towards the Romantic radicalism of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Jane and Thomas Carlyle, Auguste Comte and Saint-Simon. The tension between thought and feeling, the struggle to improve the individual and society, preoccupied Mill all his life and imbue his Autobiography with enduring integrity and power.

INTR. DE NEUS CAMPILLO

Libro incluido en Biblioteca Selecta Forum de Barcelona 2004 Sobre la libertad es una vibrante defensa de la libertad de pensamiento y expresión, una apasionada apología de la tolerancia y el respeto debido a las creencias o minorias disidentes, una audaz reivindicacion de la espontaneidad y singularidad humana frente a la opresion ejercida por las autoridades, la costumbre o la opinion. Precedido por un esclarecedor prologo de Isaiah Berlin , el presente ensayo de John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) pertenece a la breve galeria de obras de combate politico que, aun decadas o siglos despues de ser escritas, siguen determinando los comportamientos de los hombres. John Stuart Mill marco de forma decisiva el pensamiento democratico liberal. Sobre la libertad fue basicamente concebido como una protesta contra el moralismo coercitivo que imperaba en la Inglaterra victoriana. Mill trato de defender una concepcion de la vida politica caracterizada por la libertad individual, un gobierno mas responsable y una administracion eficiente, libre de practicas corruptas. En las nuevas tendencias democraticas propias de la sociedad del siglo XIX Mill veia numerosos peligros. Por una parte temia, como Tocqueville, la tirania de las mayorias. Su temor se dirigia no tanto al uso coercitivo del aparato estatal, sino mas bien a la coercion de la opinion publica que, dominada por el perjuicio y la costumbre, podia ser claramente intolerante con las actitudes o comportamientos de caracter disidente, excentrico o simplemente diferente. Su preocupacion fundamenta

Este tratado de filosofía moral, que ocupa un lugar clave dentro de la obrade JOHN STUART MILL (1806-1873), contiene a la vez enunciados de hecho yvaloraciones implícitas respecto al mundo, la humanidad y la felicidad. Elmerito de Mill señala Esperanza Guisan, prologuista y traductora delvolumen radica en que supo combinar inteligentemente los datos que leofrecia la experiencia para formular, proponer e imaginar un mundo queresultase mas deseable y una convivencia que pareciese mas satisfactoria ymas gozosa. EL UTILITARISMO muestra, por un lado, que el logro de lafelicidad humana implica la puesta en marcha de una serie de resortesmorales, y por otro, que el ideal de la maxima felicidad del mayor numeroconstituye el criterio mismo de la moralidad. Completa el volumen Unsistema de la logica, que esboza de manera clara los supuestos metaeticosde Mill.

Lutilitarismo (dal latino utilis, utile) e una dottrina filosofica di natura etica secondo la quale il bene si identifica con lutile. Indica anche una particolare corrente fondata da Jeremy Bentham, il quale pensa che unazione sia buona, cioe utile, se produce il piu alto grado di felicita per il maggior numero possibile di persone, dove per "felicita" si intende la presenza di piacere e lassenza di dolore.Sin dalla fine del XVIII secolo, lutilitarismo ha avuto ampia diffusione perche ha notevolmente semplificato le modalita di valutazione delle azioni: infatti, nei primi utilitaristi come John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), la valutazione morale di un atto e ricondotta alla sua capacita di produrre felicita o piacere, senza alcun riferimento a leggi divine o a presupposti metafisici cui esso avrebbe dovuto conformarsi. Inoltre, proprio per la sua agevole applicazione, diventa un principio guida della condotta anche per leconomia, il diritto e la politica.Tuttavia Mill, rispetto Bentham, opera tre cambiamenti significativi ben espressi in questo lavoro del 1861: sostituisce alla nozione di "piacere" quella di "felicita" (dato che il piacere sarebbe una nozione riduttiva e non in grado di restituire lampiezza e la varieta dei comportamenti individuali); sostiene la distinzione qualitativa dei piaceri; fonda il principio di utilita sul sentimento di giustizia.

Escrito dos años después del vibrante alegato que representa «Sobre la libertad» (CS 3400), CONSIDERACIONES SOBRE EL GOBIERNO REPRESENTATIVO significó un paso más en el empeño "civilizador" de JOHN S