Abstract

This article considers how John Stuart Mill's relationship with philosophical necessitarianism, or the idea that character is formed by external circumstances, came to pervade his later thought, and was central to his eventual presentation of the famous theory of liberty outlined in _ On Liberty _, for which he remains best known today. My main argument here extends Bernard Semmel's suggestion that "The conflict between philosophical liberty and necessity, between free will and determinism, was critical to the argument of _ On _ _ Liberty _, in keeping with the central role it played in Mill's thought", by providing a more extended discussion of the Owenite background in particular. Contrary to the disingenuous disclaimer Mill offers initially in _ On Liberty _, the doctrine of free will is actually central to his case for individuality, and to his defence of social liberty. This was in turn the outcome of a process of deliberation about these issues which had been ongoing since 1826. My concern he...