Together, these two essays mark the philosophic cornerstone of democratic morality and represent a thought-provoking
search for the true balance between the rights of the individual and the power of the state. Thoroughly schooled
in the principles of the utilitarian movement founded by Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill nevertheless brings his
own unique intellectual energy to issues such individual freedom, equality, authority, happiness, justice, and
virtue. On Liberty is Mill's famous examination of the nature of individuality and its crucial role in any
social system that expected to remain creative and vital. Utilitarian brilliantly expounds a pragmatic ethic based
on one controversial proposition: actions are right only if they promote the common good and wrong if they do not.
While much of Mill's thinking was eventually adopted by socialists, it is in today's democratic societies--with
their troubling issues of crime, freedom of speech, and the boundaries of personal liberty--that his work resounds
most powerfully.