J.S. Mill

296 Pages·2018·26.651 MB·English

by  Alan Ryan

Routledge Revivals
J.S. Mill
First published in 1974. As logician, economist, political theorist,
This page intentionally left blank
practical politician and active champion of social freedom, John Stuart
Mill is a figure of continuing importance. In this book the author does
full justice to the range of Mill’s achievements, providing an intro-
ductory guide to his most important and best known writings includ-
ing Autobiography, A System of Logic, Utilitarianism, Liberty, and
The Subjugation of Women. In their treatment of his works, the
author seeks to emphasise Mill’s approach to those issues — education,
the conflict between social order and individual freedom, the unre-
solved state of the social sciences, rights and duties of citizens in a
democratic state — which remain most alive to us today. At the same
time Mill is seen as part of his own age, responding to the anxieties
that beset his contemporaries. This book will be of interest to students
of politics and philosophy.
This page intentionally left blank
J.S. Mill
Alan Ryan
Firstpublishedin1974
byRoutledge&KeganPaul
Thiseditionfirstpublishedin2016byRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,Oxon,OX144RN
andbyRoutledge
711ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10017
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness
©1974AlanRyan
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
knownor hereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orin any
informationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthe
publishers.
Publisher’sNote
Thepublisherhasgonetogreatlengthstoensurethequalityofthisreprintbut
pointsoutthatsomeimperfectionsintheoriginalcopiesmaybeapparent.
Disclaimer
The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes
correspondencefromthosetheyhavebeenunabletocontact.
ALibraryofCongressrecordexistsunderLCcontrolnumber:7481997
ISBN13:978-1-138-68334-1(hbk)
ISBN13:978-1-315-54455-7(ebk)
ISBN13:978-1-138-68336-5(pbk)
Routledge Author Guides
J. S. M ill
by
Alan Ryan
New College
Oxford
Routledge & Kegan Paul
London and Boston
First published in 1974
by Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd
Broadway House, 68-74 Carter Lane,
London EC4V 5EL and
9 Park Street,
Boston, Mass. 02108, USA
Set in Monotype Bembo
and printed in Great Britain by
Cox & Wyman Ltd, London, Fakenham and Reading
© Alan Ryan 1974
No part of this book may be reproduced in
any form without permission from the
publisher, except Jor the quotation of brief
passages in criticism
ISBN 0 7100 7954 0 (c)
0 7100 7955 9 (p)
Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 74-81997
Contents
Preface xi
Introduction i
Difficulties of the history of ideas 2
James Mill 6
1 The Autobiography 1806-1826 9
An educative autobiography 9
The Early Draft 12
Utilitarianism and education 15
James Mill’s syllabus 19
Mill and Dickens 23
Youthful Benthamism 26
2 The Autobiography 1826-1840 29
‘Mental Crisis’ 30
Its impact on Mill’s ideas 33
Doubts about utilitarianism 38
‘The Spirit of the Age’ 40
Disillusionment with radicalism 44
Harriet Taylor 48
Mill’s literary criticism 50
‘Bentham’ and ‘Coleridge’ 53
3 A System of Logic 59
Intuitionists and conservatives 60
Analysis of meaning 62
Mathematical truth 66
vii
Contents
The syllogism 70
Causation 74
Induction and its canons 79
Free-will and social science 84
False starts 89
Sociology 92
4 Utilitarianism 95
Its notoriety 95
Mill’s audience 96
Theological ethics 97
Intuitionist ethics 99
A logic of the imperative mood IOI
The Art of Life 104
Utilitarianism 106
The need for first principles 107
Clarifications of the doctrine 109
Motives and intentions 113
Sanctions 114
The ‘proof’ of the principle of utility 116
Utility and justice 119
5 Liberty and The Subjection of Women 125
Harriet’s legacy 125
Elitism of Liberty 127
Truth or truths 129
Freedom and happiness 131
Liberty and its aims 133
Free inquiry and science 136
Religious freedom 139
Individuality in mass society 140
Duty and virtue 143
Paternalism 146
Saints and heroes 147
Mill’s successors 150
Extending interferences 153
Women’s liberation 154
6 The Principles of Political Economy 159
The interest of Mill’s economics 159
Methodological views 161
vm
Contents
Distribution and property 163
Wages, unionism and population 166
The role of government 170
Education
175
Poor relief, colonies and public utilities 177
The stationary state 180
Mill’s critique of socialism 183
7 Representative Government 190
Mill’s changing attitude to democracy 191
The East India Company and bureaucracy i93
Progress and political institutions 196
The defence of democratic politics 199
Mill’s neglect of party politics 203
The role of expertise 204
Minorities and their representation 207
Plural voting 210
The ballot 212
Nationalism 213
Mill and ‘democratic revisionism’ 215
8 Hamilton, Comte and Religion 218
Background of Mill’s later work 218
Matter 220
Mind 224
‘To hell I will go’ 227
Comte’s philosophy of science 228
Comte’s illiberalism 230
The religion of humanity 233
‘The Utility of Religion’ 236
‘Nature’ 239
‘Theism’ 241
Notes 248
Bibliography 270
Index 279
IX