On Liberty, Utilitarianism and Other Essays 2/e (Oxford World's Classics) Paperback – 9 July 2015

A classic for all lovers of reason and liberty.

Good book arrived in good condition

A classic Text, which every student of philosophy/ hu.anities should read.

If reading Mill seems familiar, it's because much of what he mapped out, in thought, has since become the foundation for Western democratic theory. Composed across the mid-19th century, Mill determined much that our societies required to offer each soul a fair chance at contentment. Utilitarianism, in other words.It's not the easiest read. Far from tough but, like all philosophical narrative, all points are stated clearly so as to avoid room for misinterpretation; Mill's writing also reflects his times, so is a tad floral. Likewise, he resists emotion, and so, as a left-leaning soul, I occasionally mistook him for being heartless (and, for example, when it comes to the relationship between work and levels of pay, and competition, earnestly right-wing). Yet, that was Mill's strength: to state and quietly reiterate the difference between right and wrong, and emotion - sensationalism. This prompted me to question my own belief system - and, in turn, Mill is, I would argue from the perspective of one who knows little about him from a scholarly stance, as important in our mass media driven age as ever.While the internet and digital communication might have brought us closer together - encouraging the sharing of mass thought and deed -- it has also atomised much of what was left of community. Moreover, with politics feeding off the desires of, and preaching to the individual as a means of both rallying support and thus, ultimately, separating us in a manner diametrically opposite to the group survival of religion, we are now (more than ever) guilty of all living in our own individual worlds.And given the rhetoric of mass media is also the language of our online existence, complete with its emotional manipulation through sensation, by reading Mill it is possible to see how we are nowhere near the civilised beings we presume to be. In fact, coupled with the observations of Orwell, in terms of politics' abuse and manipulation of language (Politics and the English Language (Penguin Modern Classics) - and the illuminating, entirely sober observations of Tzvetan Todorov's The Inner Enemies of Democracy -- a picture emerges of our modern world as one that is driven dangerously by emotion, without genuine concern for what is, by honest definition, truly right or wrong.

This reading was long overdue and the edition is very good. Warmely recommended

All good

On Liberty, Utilitarianism and Other Essays... A worthy read!

Very good book, love Mill