Utilitarianism, Feminism, and the Franchise

Abstract

Abstract Here, I re‐examine the sources of John Stuart Mill's feminist sympathies. After looking closely at two oft‐touted candidates—Jeremy Bentham and Harriet Taylor Mill—I conclude that neither played the role attributed to them by some modern feminists. A third and heretofore unsuspected thinker—namely his own father, James Mill—proves to be a much more plausible and probable source of the younger Mill's feminist views.