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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

Reeves, like so many other left-of-centre commentators, is concerned with the alleged abuse of this principle by free market propagandists. This controversy can be disposed of once and for all. Mill is quite clear that ‘trade is a social act’ and the doctrine of Free Trade rests on grounds ‘different from the principle of individual liberty’. But when it comes to borderline cases ‘leaving people to themselves is always better, ceteris paribus, than controlling them’. Above all there is the danger of adding unnecessarily to state power, which leads to the famous (or to some infamous) passage arguing that in a state-run economy ‘not all the freedom of the press and popular constitution of the legislature would make this or any other country free otherwise than in name’. Similar considerations tell against state-directed (as distinct from partially state-financed) education. Mill’s spasmodic support for ‘socialism’ referred to a competitive economy based on voluntarily established producers’ co-operatives.

A real problem with On Liberty is that Mill does not propose individual freedom as an end in itself but claims unconvincingly to derive it from the principle of utility. In fact it is no more possible to prove the principle of utilititarianism — ‘that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness’ — than that of freedom. Both doctrines are best regarded as proposals. That they may occasionally conflict with each other will only bother those who believe that public policy can be guided by one value and that therefore tradeoffs are never necessary. Meanwhile we are plagued by governments intruding into private adult conduct on everything from ‘passive smoking’ to exercise, diet, compulsory schooling for young adults, and devising doctrines such as ‘hate crime’ to curtail freedom of speech — not to mention looking for excuses to extend detention without trial.

www.samuelbrittan.co.uk

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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.