| John Stuart Mill was an English utilitarian philosopher and social reformist in the 19th century. Mill inherited Bentham's the principle of utility: the greatest happiness of the greatest number, and meanwhile he improved Bentham's utilitarian theory, through which he became a great utilitarian philosopher. Mill concerned about people's education and regarded education as a tool for the social reform. According to the situation of the society in the Great Britain at the time and in the context of his own experiences of education, Mill put forward his ideas on education. This thesis mainly studies Mill's thoughts of utilitarian education.Mill lived in the time called"the era of reform"in the Great Britain, who experienced an unusual life. In his childhood, Mill was educated by his father who was well-known in the world at that time. However, his father's overemphasis on rational training and overlook on emotional cultivation resulted in an outbreak of his mental crisis at the age of twenty. Through reflecting his education experience, Mill put forward his profound ideas of education which covered humanistic.Mill's utilitarian education thoughts are based on the utilitarian philosophy. Mill viewed the Greatest Happiness Principle as a social principle and advocated that education should be used to develop people's intelligence and enhance people's well-being. Mill's thoughts of utilitarian education are presented from four aspects: environmental influences on human development, the purpose and function of education (mainly referring to schooling and home education), the government's responsibility for national education, the mission of elementary education, the University's ideals and the principles of ethics and moral education. Mill held that the natural environment and social environment people's living relied on played an important role in improving a human being's nature. The implementation of education aimed not only at personal happiness, but also at the greatest happiness of the greatest number; meanwhile, the function of education was to promote personal development and social progress. The government should provide the general public with appropriate education, and especially compulsory primary education should be implemented; however, the government should support and encourage private education instead of monopolizing the national education. Elementary education should balance intellectual training and emotional cultivation so that students would have sound minds. University's mission should be to shape people's great minds by carrying out liberal education which included both literature and science. Ethical and moral education must embody the unity between"self-regard"and"altruism"; People's spiritual well-being and moral"conscience"should be placed emphasis upon during the ethical and moral education.Mill's utilitarian education thoughts had some influence on the western history of education, which embodied four characteristics: democratic, humanistic and realistic. Mill's views on government's responsibility for national education, the mission of elementary education, the university's ideals and the principles of ethics and moral education are still instructive for modern education in our country. |
