John
Stuart Mill was a leading figure in the intellectual ferment of the
nineteenth century. His father, James Mill, a famous philosopher in his own
right, was his son's only teacher until John Stuart reached fourteen. Young John
Stuart had mastered Latin and classical Greek, philosophy, and the advanced
mathematics of his time by the age of eight and had also worked through the
English histories of Gibbon and Hume. At twelve, he turned to logic and at
thirteen, young Mill was correcting proofs for his father's Elements of
Political Economy. The complex economics of David Ricardo were delivered
when Mill was fourteen, which meant that his father would lead him on walks
through the woods, lecturing constantly while John Stuart frantically scribed
notes. Mill later recounted that he saw nothing extraordinary in these
accomplishments; having been denied the company of children his own age, he
assumed that every child was subjected to the same training. John
Stuart loyally followed his father’s lead and embraced the ideas in Jeremy
Bentham's Utilitarianism
(1836). Utilitarianism pivots on the notion that pleasure is good, pain is
bad, and that people should act accordingly. Ironically, John Stuart Mill
missed the boat when it came to pursuing happiness; becoming a thoroughbred
intellectual had a dark downside. The young man also became an emotionless
depressant and, at twenty, he had a nervous breakdown. Meeting his future
wife Harriet was pivotal, according to Mill’s Autobiography, in helping him recover from this breakdown. Being
in love was the right medicine for Mill. Mill
thereafter spent most of his life as an examiner in the employ of the India
House, where his father also worked. His official duties at work left him
considerable time to reflect and write on philosophy, logic, and economics.
Inspired in part by the logical positivism of Auguste Comte, Mill sought to
bring all the social sciences into a grand synthesis—to be called ethology—but
after a few years of trying to do so, he was forced to admit a lack of
progress on his new science. He
turned instead to a treatise on political economy and, in 1848, published his
Principles of Political Economy: With Some of Their
Applications to Social Philosophy. Although the book lacked pathbreaking
originality, it elaborated and fused the powerful ideas of David Ricardo and
Adam Smith, whose influence lived on long after they absented the scene. Principles enjoyed an unusually long
life as an economics text, being widely read by both the serious-minded
public and by several generations of economics students. Mill
thought that the economics of his day needed increased emphasis on practical
questions of economic policy. Many of these practical questions concerned
government intervention, to which he was usually, though not dogmatically,
opposed. Mill identified several broad instances of market failure— cases
where market solutions were not optimal because (a) buyers or sellers
lacked adequate information, (b) pursuit of private gain injured
innocent third parties, or (c) competitive behavior tended to
short-circuit economies of large-scale production. Although every government
intervention restricts the freedom of some individuals, Mill did not reject
such interventions if the collective benefits exceeded the collective costs.
On quite pragmatic and utilitarian grounds, then, Mill established the
philosophical basis of the “mixed economy.” Economics,
as Mill perceived it, is not limited to the study of commerce. It also
addresses freedom and fairness. Mill held that there was no simple rule
appropriate for government interference or noninterference but that some
broad guidelines for state intervention could be specified. Above all, he
wished to preserve and enhance the concept of individual liberty, which could
be done sometimes by removing government intrusion and at other times through
government action designed to help individuals pursue their own interests
more effectively. Indeed, one person’s rights can sometimes be had only by
limiting the rights of another. Consider pollution, for one example. Your
freedom to breathe clean air may be harmed by another’s freedom to smoke. Mill
was a fervent advocate of equality of
opportunity, but feared that people’s willingness to work and invest
would be severely hampered if government guaranteed equality of result. Consequently, he took a dim view of
progressive income taxes, agreeing with Adam Smith that progressive taxes
discourage effort. Instead, Mill proposed an almost confiscatory inheritance
tax, a level playing field which would mean that only one’s own diligence and
ability would limit your capacity to succeed. Absent an inheritance tax, Mill
supported a proportionate or “flat” tax, which taxes everyone at a stable tax
rate. Mill’s sole exception would be for the poor, who would be exempt from
paying taxes. Inspired by his wife Harriet, Mill published On
Liberty (1859) which continues to be
cited as among the most lucid and powerful defenses of personal freedom ever
written. This was followed by The Subjection of Women (1869), which
supported equal rights between the sexes. While serving in Parliament, Mill
advocated public ownership of natural resources, women's suffrage, birth
control and mandatory education. Many of Mill's views were based in
egalitarianism, but others were not. For example, Mill believed that educated
people should have more votes than uneducated people to facilitate governance
by a ruling middle class or “educated” class. Gaining power not through bank
doors, but through school doors was a part of Mill’s creed. Mill's
views on government, along with many of his other ideas, live on today
despite his death in 1873. On Liberty reads like a blueprint of the
First and Fourth Amendments of the Constitution. His economic work also
remains, which helped bridge many gaps between his time and ours. |
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Author:
Ralph Byrns |
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Economics
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