The “Cliff Notes” version of John Stuart Mill usually entails his ethical arguments and his works on utilitarianism. It often isn’t mentioned that his works also cover topics ranging from free speech, to economics, to the duties of parents to their children.

Mill’s childhood is unique and fascinating. Born in 1806 the son of prominent Scottish thinker James Mill, young John Stuart became his father’s intellectual project. James intended for his son to be a brilliant advocate and implementer of his own moral philosophy; utilitarianism. From an early age, John Stuart was given a rigorous regimen of studies, and was restricted from involvement with his peers. At the age of three, he was taught Greek, and by the age of eight, he had read 6 dialogues of Plato, Aesop’s Fables, and much more. At age fourteen he stayed with one of his father’s friends in France and came to study zoology, chemistry, and advanced mathematics. 

John Stuart was human, however, and at age twenty he was crushed by the burdens and expectations placed upon him and had a nervous breakdown. Luckily he recovered, and went on to influence western history through his political involvement and philosophical work.

The following quote comes from Mill’s On Liberty, an eloquent a persuasive work concerning social and political freedom. In the section Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion, he writes of our ideas of truth and the way in which we deal with facts and other people. I found this quote to be poignant:

“He who knows only his side of the case, knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may be able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side; if he does not so much as know what they are, ha has no ground for preferring either opinion.”

The beauty of this message is that it applies to every facet of our beliefs and values, every realm of our conscious life. Weather it be the way we perform a dance or a technique in martial arts, the way we treat our parents, or the way we make blueberry pancakes, there is always another way of going about things, a way that could be argued to be superior, and could be considered as a better maxim to act upon.

How many times have we had a way of going about things, and fallen into the fallacy that it was the ONLY “right” way? Think of an instance when you had come to the conclusion that your method or belief was the only one to be considered. Can you not also think of a time when that belief was blown out of the water? 

Imagine someone who promotes the use of certain crop fertilizers. He can list the benefits of these fertilizers, the decreased percentages of insects on fertilized crops, and every argument that any farmer has ever used to justify their fertilizer use. When others mention the potentially harmful effects of these fertilizers, he silences them with claims of its economic benefits, increases in plant growth, et cetera. However, his mind has never been open to understanding the stances against these fertilizers, and if asked he couldn’t even explain the arguments of those who want to ban fertilizers. 

Could this man claim to adequately understand the debate? If his mind was open to the idea of other arguments, he would at least be able to cross-reference his reasoning with theirs, and take an informed stance as opposed to a dogmatic one. 

Mill sees this process of integrating perspective and reforming beliefs to be an alive, active process towards truth – or as close an idea of truth as we might come to know. His writings firmly stood against any dogmas, and he believed that even fallacies should be allowed to be spoken, for in understanding them and proving their falsity, we come to a more rounded idea of truth for ourselves – as individuals and as a society. 

We might take this perspective to heart. There may be a better way of thinking about a specific political issue or cause, or a better way to understand an important ethical concern in our life – and we might be holding ourself back by not openly considering other perspective. If nothing else… someone might have a better recipe for blueberry pancakes.

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