Rethinking Mill's Ethics: Character and Aesthetic Education

Description

Discussion of John Stuart Mill's ethics has been dominated by concern with right and wrong action as determined by the principle of utility. Colin Heydt's book unearths the rich context of moral and socio-political debate that Mill did not have to make explicit to his Victorian readers, in order to enrich the philosophical analysis of his ethics and to show a famous and misunderstood moralist in a new light.

Colin Heydt teaches philosophy at the University of South Florida. Among his other publications is 'Narrative, Imagination, and the Religion of Humanity in Mill's Ethics', Journal of the History of Philosophy.

mention- The Chronicle of Higher Education/ October 13, 2006 'Colin Heydt's work is a rich and original contextual study of John Stuart Mill's political philosophy, ethics and moral psychology. ' Knud Haakonssen, University of Sussex * Blurb from reviewer * 'Colin Heydt's investigation of Mill is an original, engaging, and illuminating study of unduly neglected aspects of Mill's thought. I learned a great deal from it - not only about Mill and his views but also about aesthetic education and character development.' * Blurb from reviewer * "..an important supplement for understanding Mill as an ethical theorist." "Throughout the book, there are illuminating contrasts between the views of Mill and Bentham...the book is rich in filling in the intellectual context in which Mill wrote." "...to be recommended to anyone interested in Mill's theories of character and aesthetic education and of the relationship of his and other intellectuals' reactions to the challenges of his time." Reviewed by Henry R. West, Malcalester College. * Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *