John Stuart Mill was a British philosopher, economist and civil servant. An influential contributor to social theory, political theory, and political economy, his conception of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control. He was a proponent of utilitarianism, an ethical theory developed by Jeremy Bentham, although his conception of it was very different from Bentham's. Hoping to remedy the problems found in an inductive approach to science, such as confirmation bias, he clearly set forth the premises of falsification as the key component in the scientific method. Mill was also a Member of Parliament and an important figure in liberal political philosophy. Russell Kirk traces modern-day libertarianism to Mill's political thought.

本书作者约翰·斯图尔特·穆勒（1806-1873年）是19世纪英国著名的经济学家和哲学家，也是19世纪最具影响力的古典自由主义思想家之一。他的著作很多，主要有《逻辑学体系》（1843年）、《论自由》（1859年）、及《论妇女的从属地位》（1869年）等。本书是他的最后一本著作。书中，他详细地记录了自己童年时期的独特的学习方式和自己思想学说的形成过程，同时重点介绍了自己的写作和宣传活动，并对一些颇具争议的问题提出自己精辟独到的见解。《约翰·穆勒自传》如实地叙述了穆勒所处的那个时代的英国社会和政治的历史，对于研究穆勒的学者具有重要的参考价值。