# On Liberty — Character guide

> Key figures in On Liberty by John Stuart Mill.

- [John Stuart Mill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_liberty_se/characters/john_stuart_mill.md): Mill stands between the eighteenth-century belief that individuals possess rights prior to society and the nineteenth-century view that society shapes and precedes the individual. He argues that all progress depends on t
- [Harriet Taylor Mill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_liberty_se/characters/harriet_taylor_mill.md): Harriet Taylor Mill met Mill in 1831 while married to another man, and their long intimacy scandalized friends and family before they wed in 1851. Mill credited her with originating and appreciating speculations on socia
- [Wilhelm von Humboldt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_liberty_se/characters/wilhelm_von_humboldt.md): German philosopher whose ideas on individuality are quoted by Mill.
- [Thomas Carlyle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_liberty_se/characters/thomas_carlyle.md): Scottish essayist and historian, mentioned in context of opposing views.
- [George Barnwell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_liberty_se/characters/george_barnwell.md): Fictional character from a moralizing play, used as an example of societal pressure.
- [Auguste Comte](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_liberty_se/characters/auguste_comte.md): French philosopher and founder of positivism, discussed in relation to social systems.
- [James Mill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_liberty_se/characters/james_mill.md): John Stuart Mill's father and utilitarian philosopher, briefly referenced.

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