All For The Higher Pleasure

John Stuart Mill is one of the most influential thinkers in the history of Britain. His influence has never been limited to one field. As for Mill's moral theories, he is considered a vigorous defender of restrict protection of individual liberty. But as for his political thought, his advocacy of the educative role of government and the leading role of the elite few have been considered paternalistic thus in fundamental conflict with his commitment to individuality. So, for some critics, Mill is a self-contradictory philosopher. After a thorough reading of Mill's works and the works about him, the present writer disagrees with this assertion; rather she holds that in spite of the impression of inconsistency he may give some people with his ideas of government, of elitism, and of individual liberty, Mill is not really self-contradictory because his commitment to individual liberty, his appreciation of elite's leading role, as well as his acknowledgment of the government's authority, are all his means to achieve his ideal of higher pleasure. So for Mill, individual liberty, the elite and government are all of certain instrumental value to the final end of higher pleasure. So Mill cannot be said as a self-contradictory philosopher.