England and Ireland

One of the foremost figures of Western intellectual thought in the late 19th century, John Stuart Mill offered up examinations of human rights, personal and societal responsibilities, and the striving for individual happiness that continue to impact our philosophies, both private and political, to this day. The 1868 essay, while not still true in all its factual details, remains a powerful historical discussion of the British impact on Ireland that continues to this day, if not in the same form as in Mill's.

From the plight of Irish farmers to the English tendency to colonialism-with a prescient awareness that revolution must be in the offing for Ireland-Mill's examination of "the Irish question" is essential reading for anyone interested in the long and difficult history of these entwined nations.


English philosopher and politician JOHN STUART MILL (1806-1873) served as an administrator in the East Indian Company from 1823 to 1858, and as a member of parliament from 1865 to 1868. Among his essays on a wide range of political and social thought are Principles of Political Economy (1848), Considerations on Representative Government (1861), and The Subjection of Women (1869).