John Stuart Mill is the father of modern liberalism. His most remembered work, On Liberty, which was published in 1859, changed the course of the liberal tradition. What is less well-known is that his ideas have profoundly influenced the American constitutional rights tradition of the latter half of the twentieth century. Mill's 'harm principle' inspired the constitutional right to privacy recognized in Griswold v Connecticut, Roe vs Wade and other cases. His defense of freedom of expression influenced Justices Holmes, Brandeis, Douglas, Brennan and others and led to greatly expanded freedom of speech in the twentieth century. Finally, Mill was an ardent feminist whose last important work, The Subjection of Women, was a full-scale and, for its time, radical defense of complete gender equality. This is a book for lawyers who want to understand the intellectual origins of modern constitutional rights, and for political philosophers interested in the constitutional implications of Mill's conception of freedom.

Explores Mill's influence on our constitutional rights tradition including the right to privacy, free speech and how we understand liberty.

About the Author
John Lawrence Hill is the R. Bruce Townsend Professor of Law at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis, where he teaches constitutional law and legal philosophy classes. He holds a J.D. and a Ph.D. in philosophy, both from Georgetown University. He has published several books in law, ethics and philosophy.


Book Information
ISBN 9781108485296
Author John Lawrence Hill
Format Hardback
Page Count 146
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 330g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 157mm * 13mm