John Stuart Mill’s Autobiography had a strong impact on me when I read it many years ago. The way his father raised him, eventually leading to his mental breakdown, his relationship with Harriet Taylor, and his thoughts on topics like liberty and happiness, all left a deep impression on me.
In this post, Henry Oliver summarises Mill’s thoughts on human flourishing, which emphasize becoming a better person (moral), gaining greater skill (practical), and developing higher levels of taste (aesthetic).
I hope to continue learning, discovering, and building my character.
Excerpts:
The Art of Life means not trying to be happy, but developing yourself. Sometimes, in order to be happier, we must do what we dislike. We need the pain of improvement before we can have the happiness of achievement.
Mill’s art of life, the balancing of the moral, practical, and aesthetic, is about enabling people to raise their aspirations and improve themselves in ways they couldn’t imagine when they began their journey of bildung and discovery.
If we keep a vision of greatness in mind and develop a nobleness of character, we will be best equipped to practice many-sidedness and to discover the world, rather than accept what other people tell us think.
So as you make your resolutions, think about how to cultivate your character practically, aesthetically, and spiritually. Be many sided. Keep educating yourself. Discover the world. Aim at something noble.
I often remind myself of Mill’s quote on happiness:
Those only are happy … who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness; on the happiness of others, on the improvement of mankind, even on some art or pursuit, followed not as a means, but as itself an ideal end. Aiming thus at something else, they find happiness by the way.
John Stuart Mill
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