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John Stuart Mill: Victorian Firebrand

Mill! thou shouldst be living at this hour

Richard Reeves
Atlantic Books, 616pp, £30,

Samuel Brittan

Wednesday, 28th November 2007

Samuel Brittan

Secondly, although Mill worked to extend the very restricted 19th-century franchise, he always had reservations about full democracy. I was vividly reminded of the double-edged nature of the appeal to democracy at a meeting of civil servants at which Reeves was also present. We were discussing New Labour schemes to change personal behaviour in an approved way. I suggested that this was an area in which to apply the dictum of one orthodox former civil servant that officials should ‘avoid the last ounce of personal commitent’. Some of my audience were horrified at the supposed affront to democracy — as if the whims of a temporary plurality should have canonical importance.

This brings me to the third and most important aspect of Mill’s thought of contemporary relevance, namely the short 1859 essay On Liberty which Reeves rightly describes as ‘the greatest celebration of the value of human freedom ever written’. My own old Everyman edition is so peppered with underlinings and and markings that the pages are in danger of being perforated. Its central teaching, as controversial as when it first appeared, was:

The sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self protection ...to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant.

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Rajagopal

November 30th, 2007 9:15am

Bertrand Russe, J S Mill's protege, would be the best example of his legacy, as the latter's veritable contributions to Mathematics, Philosophy and literature would testify.

Aniruddha G. Kulkarni

December 1st, 2007 7:03am

I wonder why no one comments on Mill's huge influence on 19th century Indian leaders of all hue. I wonder if any other Brit influenced Indian leaders as much as him.

Guy in WN

December 2nd, 2007 7:48pm

Of course, the definition of "harm" is the problem, particularly in modern societies with extensive tax-funded services. Passive smoking seems to fit the definition according to current research into heart disease deaths but drawing Mill's line has become one of the defining acts of politicians of all colours, whether they are aware of this or not.