UNDERSTANDING JOHN STUART MILL

The Smart Student's Guide to Utilitarianism and On Liberty

By: Laurence Houlgate

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Understanding John Stuart Mill is the third book in a series of philosophy study guides to the classics of philosophy. The series is designed for beginning and intermediate philosophy students who would like more depth than they would ordinarily get from "Notes" books that only give outlines of the philosopher's thoughts and theories. At the same time, the Smart Student's books are not scholarly monographs designed for graduate students and professors. Understanding John Stuart Mill focuses on both content and philosophical method in the sections on Mill's famous Utilitarianism and in his later but equally famous On Liberty. Each chapter breaks down the arguments of the philosopher into understandable parts, showing how the philosopher reaches his conclusions and how he defends against possible objections. Each chapter concludes with a set of questions for thought and discussion. Some of the questions are on topics that provide an excellent starting point for term papers. References to other books about the philosopher or the topic can be found at the end of the chapter, in footnotes, textboxes or at the end of the book. Other books in the Smart Student's Guide series are: Understanding Plato: The Socratic Dialogues and the Republic; and Understanding John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism and On Liberty.

Basic and Sometimes Incorrect Primer

Firstly, the automated voice routinely makes pronunciation errors, accidentally skips, or has awkward pauses.

The book itself is a below average but passable introduction to Mill. The author rarely goes deep into any concept so rarely gives any pushback or insight to Mill’s views.

Furthermore, the author routinely makes or quotes obviously untrue claims. One funny one was “For one hundred and fifty years, Rome had Stoic emperors whose ethical level exceeded any in the history of Christendom. Of the twenty-nine Pagan Roman emperors twenty-one were admirable men of good character.”

First, “150 years of Stoic emperors” is not really accurate. You can maybe gesture from Nerva to Marcus Aurelius, AD 96–180, the “Five Good Emperors,” but that is about 84 years, and not all were Stoics. Marcus Aurelius was the only real Stoic philosopher-emperor.

Second, “twenty-one of twenty-nine pagan Roman emperors were admirable men of good character” is laughably generous unless he is using a very selective list and very friendly grading. Caligula, Nero, Domitian, Commodus, Caracalla, Elagabalus, Maximinus Thrax, and plenty of others make that hard to swallow.

Anyway, Mill isn’t that hard to understand. Stick to the original books and use AI if you need help.