JOHN STUART MILL:
JOHN STUART MILL [1806-1873]
þ 19TH-C BRITISH PHILOSOPER & ECONOMIST.
þ LEARNED GREEK AT 3, LATIN AT 8.
þ BY 14, HAD READ MOST GK & LATIN CLASSICS IN
ORIGINAL LANGUAGES.
þ BY 14, HAD ALSO READ WIDELY IN HISTORY, LOGIC,
MATH, SCIENCE.
þ BY 13, HAD STARTED TO READ THE ECONOMISTS, ESP.:
þ RICARDO
þ MALTHUS þ BENTHAM
þ VERY IMPRESSED BY MALTHUSIAN POPULATION THEORY.
þ AT 17, ARRESTED FOR DISTRIBUTING PAMPHLETS
ADVOCATING BIRTH CONTROL & CONTRACEPTION, TO
IMPROVE WORKING CLASS.
þ AFTER SUFFERING FROM PERSONAL DEPRESSION, HE
DECIDED TO DEVOTE HIS LIFE TO POLITICAL & ECONOMIC
REFORM.
þ BECAME BEST KNOWN 19TH-C BR PHILOSOPHER.
JOHN STUART MILL [1806-1873] [C]
þ BOOKS BY J.S. MILL:
þ A SYSTEM OF LOGIC [2 VOLS, 1843]
þ ON LIBERTY [1859]
þ CONSIDERATIONS ON REPRESENTATIVE
GOVERNMENT
[1861]
þ UTILITARIANISM [1862]
þ AUTOBIOGRAPHY [1873]
þ PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
[1848]
þ MILLS' MOST IMPORTANT ECONOMIC IDEA:
þ DISTINCTION BETWEEN PRODUCTION &
DISTRIBUTION.
þ PRINCIPLES REGULATING PRODUCTION
OF WEALTH
ARE GROUNDED IN LAWS OF NATURE -- ARE BEYOND HUMAN
CONTROL.
þ BUT THE LAWS OF DISTRIBUTION ARE
PARTLY
CREATED BY HUMAN INSTITUTIONS, THUS SUBJECT TO
CHANGE.
þ IRISH
FARMERS POOR BECAUSE OF WAY LAND
DISTRIBUTED -- NOT BECAUSE OF A LAW OF NATURE.
þ IT IS NOT JUST THAT SMALL MINORITY OF MANKIND
SHOULD BE BORN TO ENJOYMENT OF ALL ADVANTAGES,
WHILE THE IMMENSE MAJORITY ARE CONDEMNED TO
NEVER-ENDING TOIL MERELY TO EARN BARE
SUBSISTENCE.
þ BELIEVED THAT LAISSEZ-FAIRE CAPITALISM WOULD BE
SUPERCEDED BY "COOPERATIVE PRODUCTION" -->
SOCIALISM.
JOHN STUART MILL [1806-1873] [C]
þ MILL WELCOMED:
þ WORKER COOPERATIVES þ WORKER-OWNED ENTERPRISES
þ ENLIGHTED ACTION WOULD BRING VOLUNTARY
ASSOCIATIONS [E.G. WORKER COOPERATIVES & PROFIT-
SHARING].
þ MILL DID NOT BELIEVE THAT AN ECONOMY ORGANIZED
AROUND
þ INDIVIDUAL ENTERPRISE
þ PRIVATE PROPERTY
þ FREEDOM OF CONTRACT
þ MINIMUM OF GOVN ACTION
WAS THE FINAL CONSUMMATION OF ECONOMIC PROGRESS.