National Network for Equitable Library Service

A highly influential philosophical work of the Victorian era, John Stuart Mill’s book promotes the application of utilitarianism, an ethical system based on maximizing overall well-being and happiness, to society and government. But Mill is no hippie-dippie idealist. Within his intellectually rigorous treatment of utilitarianism and his argument for the three basic liberties—the freedom of thought and emotion, the freedom to pursue tastes, and the freedom to unite— lies a pessimistic critique of and a warning to the high hopes and ideals of the Enlightenment. On Liberty presents a sobering portrait of how an “equal” society can easily devolve into a “tyranny of majority.