No one can be a great thinker who does not recognise, that as a thinker
it is his first duty to follow his intellect to whatever conclusions it
may lead. Truth gains more even by the errors of one who, with due study
and preparation, thinks for himself, than by the true opinions of those
who only hold them because they do not suffer themselves to think. -John
Stuart Mill, in On Liberty Often mentioned in the same breath with the
Communist Manifesto, On Liberty-perhaps the greatest work from British
political philosopher John Stuart Mill-is one of the most profound and
most hotly debated works of the 19th century. Is it a classic plea for
human freedom and intellectual development... or is it factually wrong
and morally offensive? English philosopher and politician JOHN STUART
MILL (1806-1873) was one of the foremost figure of Western intellectual
thought in the late 19th century. He served as an administrator in the
East Indian Company from 1823 to 1858, and as a member of parliament
from 1865 to 1868.