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Who Is John Stuart Mill An American Man

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Who Is John Stuart Mill An American Man
John Stuart Mill was a British philosopher and one of the most influential ones at his time. When looking at John Stuart Mill we see the economic, political, and moral theorist that he was, but what type of life did he lead to become the man he became? What education and influences did he have to become the “ideal Victorian man?” What characteristics define an ideal Victorian man? First off, let us start by looking at his childhood and life, his influences and what made him the way he was. From there, we can look at what it meant to be an ideal Victorian man. Lastly, now having seen both, we can analyze how John Stuart Mill was the ideal Victorian man. John Stuart Mill had a very peculiar childhood education. The early years are the most important …show more content…
Since the beginning, starting his childhood, he was already how the ideal son of the Victorian era should be. Mill was that ideal son, the son that blindly followed the doctrine his father taught him. Due to his strict education, he had an admiration for his father that left no room for him to be his own person, he did not opposed what taught nor did he went the opposite direction of his teachings. He was always highly respectful of his father and because he was homeschool and not allowed to socialize, he was not tainted by the opinions or influences from the others. He was perfectly made at the image of his father, just like an ideal son. As a grown man, John Stuart Mill was a man that was highly involved in commercial and intellectual quests, that was his life. Just like the ideal Victorian man, he was completely inside the political and social movements of his era. He had his Utilitarianism circle and highly influenced the way of thinking of his time. The hard work and study was admired back then, and he was able to not only work, but work and study more than anyone else. He worked his way through all of the hardships in his life and worked his way out of the crisis he had in his 20’s. He was a respectable man in society. Sometimes, he was criticized by his liberal ideals of the time, his atheism, and strong woman rights …show more content…
Mill was, like the men from that era, knowledgeable in multiple subjects, but unlike other men from his era, Mill was uniquely advanced. He was all of that and part of that elite, educated, metropolitan, middle/upper class Victorian with a voice and influence. Another thing is that they had an emphasis on restraint and modesty and given that john stuart mill was not very good at expressing his emotions but at the same time he was very humane in his beliefs, he seemed like the perfect combination of both. Even though he had a very harsh childhood that eventually caught up to him in a psychological way that led to his breakdown in his 20’s, all of that, all of those life experiences is exactly what made him think the way he did and take action on the things he did, making him "the most influential English-speaking philosopher of the nineteenth

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