Self-Reform as Political Reform in the Writings of John Stuart Mill*

Eldon J. Eisenach

Utilitas, 1989, vol. 1, issue 2, 242-258

Abstract: Students of Mill's political theory know that he was both a political reformer and a social philosopher. An important part of Mill's life involved political struggles over the electoral franchise and schemes of parliamentary representation, the legal and social emancipation of women, land law and economic policy, and freedom of speech and the press. When turning to his best known writings such as On Liberty, Considerations on Representative Government, Principles of Political Economy and The Subjection of Women, issues of reform intrude at almost every point. Even his more philosophical writings—Utilitarianism, An Examination of Sir William Hamilton's Philosophy and System of Logic — can be seen as attacks on or supports for those theories of man and society which Mill sees as hindering or furthering ‘the improvement of mankind’. Moreover, Mill's subsidiary careers as a journalist, editor of the London and Westminster Review and member of parliament further demonstrate his commitment to political reform.

Date: 1989
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