On Liberty | Teaching Key Figures

Character Descriptions

This section provides a short description of all the major characters in the book. This can be printed out as a study guide for students, used as a "key" for leading a class discussion, or you can jump to the quiz/homework section to find worksheets that incorporate these descriptions into a variety of question formats.

Characters

John Stuart Mill - The majority of this character's literary works fall well within what has been defined as the 'canon' of the Western philosophical tradition. The English are understandably very proud of him as his thinking was so powerful as to reign within a philosophical context which had not been dominated by the English.

Harriet Taylor - This English woman was a self educated intellectual. For many years she was an intellectual friend of John Stuart Mill's.

James Mill - This character devoted a great deal of his energies to work in...
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