MILL - THE SPIRIT OF THE AGE, ON LIBERTY, THE SUBJECTION OF WOMEN

The editor's introduction to this collection of writings by John Stuart Mill lays out the central issues debated by Mill's many interpreters, and also assesses his historical significance and provides a brief account of his life. The book then presents three essays that illustrate Mill's liberal political philosophy over the course of his life: "The Spirit of the Age" (1831), "On Liberty" (1859) and "The Subjection of Women" (1869). Related excerpts from "Autobiography" (published posthumously in 1873) are also included. Each text is accompanied by explanatory annotations, and there are seven assessments of Mill's writings: the contemporary perspectives of R.H. Hutton and James Fitzjames Stephen and the more recent analyses of Isaiah Berlin, Gertrude Himmelfarb, John C. Rees, Jeremy Waldron and Susan Moller Okin.