Mill's Views on the Past as a Source of Creativity

In On Liberty (1859) John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) begins his meditations on the past as the source of creativity by citing the philosophical and social writings of the German thinker, Baron Wilhelm von Humboldt (1761-1835). In his chapter "On Individual-ity", Mill focuses on Humboldt's claim that "originality" derives from the "individuality of power and development" which depends upon "the two requisites of freedom and variety of situations" allowing "individual vigour and manifold diversity" to manifest itself (Mill, 1985, 121). Mill agrees with Humboldt that individuality is to be highly prized. Mill's position is that individuals should not be expected merely to mimic the past and its greatness. Rather the greatest achievement for an individual according to Mill is to "use and interpret experience in his own way" (Mill, 1985, 122). Here the past serves as a point of inspiration, a sort of jumping off point for one's own deepest reflections. Mill indicates that the individual's task is to discern "what part of recorded experience is properly applicable to his own circumstances and character" (Mill, 1985, 122). The past here is presented as an open field, a space in which creativity can be tempered rather than absolutely fixed and limited. Mill desires that individuals not be enslaved to custom. For Mill anyone who allows the world to choose one's path is merely following in "ape-like imitation" (Mill, 1985, 123).