Mill, James

NAME:  Mill, James

ACHIEVEMENTS:  Utilitarian philosopher

NICKNAME/ALIAS:  None

DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH: April 6, 1773, Logie Pert, Forfarshire, Scotland

DATE AND PLACE OF DEATH /AGE AT DEATH:  June 23, 1836, London, England. Aged 63

DISCIPLINE:  Philosopher

FIELD:  Philosophy

LANGUAGE:  English

 PARENTS: James Mill; Isabel Fenton

SIBLINGS: William, May

SPOUSE:  Harriet Burrow

CHILDREN:  John Stuart Mill (philosopher)

EDUCATION:  Parish school, Logie Pert;  Montrose Academy, Logie Pert;

University of Edinburgh

MAJOR WORK:  "History of India"

LIFE AND TIMES:

 In 1802 Mill journeyed to London to find employment in the literary field.  He travelled to London with Sir John Stuart, a Member of Parliament, who arranged for Mill to attend some sessions of the House of Commons. Mill became interested in politics, though unimpressed by its protagonists.  He maintained that neither <dismissive of> Pitt* nor Charles Fox could match the oratory of his classics tutor at Edinburgh.

Mill got a job as writer on the "Anti-Jacobean  Review" through a letter of introduction to the editor from Thomas Thomson, a chemist, with whom he had formed a close friendship at Edinburgh.  He was to help Dr. Henry Hunter on a book.  Hunter died and the  publisher decided to start a periodical: "Literary Journal", making Mill the editor.  Mill edited the "Journal" for four years and from 1805, also edited the "St. James's Chronicle".

Having already published a pamphlet on grain export (1804) and translated a work on Martin Luther (1805), at 33 with perhaps more ambition than foresight Mill started to write a history of India. His three-year deadline turned into 10 years of hard work.  

In 1808, Mill met Utilitarian philosopher <influenced by> Jeremy Bentham* and was

tremendously impressed.  Bentham often invited Mill to dine in Westminster and Mill would walk all the way from his house in north London.  The Utilitarian philosophy held that scientific and humanist principles should be the bases for the conduct of politics and  economics and, in general, life. 

Mill edited Bentham's writings and became involved in the radical movement that grew up around Bentham's philosophy.  He made himself so useful that Bentham arranged for Mill and his family to live as his neighbors.  From 1809, Mill spent two or three months in the summer with Bentham.

In 1811, Mill met <a pal of> Ricardo*, who eventually became his closest friend.

Bentham claimed, "I was the spiritual father of Mill, and Mill the spiritual father of  Ricardo".  Mill encouraged Ricardo to publish his economic writings and to enter Parliament. 

In 1814, Mill accepted a commission to write articles on education, law and politics for supplements to the Encyclopedia Britannica.   He also was writing articles for "The Philanthropist," in which he supported the anti-slavery movement, set out the principles of Bentham's law-reform proposals and promoted the controversial idea of non-sectarian education.

In 1817  the "History of India" was published and was an immediate success, despite its rather austere tone.  Mill criticized the ways in which the <criticized> East India Company*  had  operated , but in May,1819,  he was still appointed to a post in India House as Assistant to the Examiner of India Correspondence.  He stayed  at India House for the rest of life, eventually becoming head of the Examiner's office in 1830.

Mill's new office did not inhibit him from  pursuing his Utilitarian ideals, and in articles for the Encyclopedia Britannica, he spoke openly.  In 1820, his article,  "Government", stated unequivocally that a representative democracy based  on a wide suffrage is essential for good government. 

Mill's son, <son was> JS Mill*, who followed in his father's footsteps as a Utilitarian philosopher, wrote that the "philosophical radicals" regarded his father's article as a "masterpiece of political wisdom".  By 1825, the elder Mill's essays had become text-books for Cambridge students, and Mill profoundly influenced the political thinking of the 1820’s.

In 1820, discussions on economics at Ricardo's house led to the founding of the Political Economy  Club.   A prominent member, Mill drafted the rules. In 1821, Mill published "Elements of Political Economy", a work based  on Ricardo's thinking.  In the work, Mill maintained that the chief mission of political reformers was to limit the increase of population,  since capital does not increase at the same rate as population;   the value of

a thing depends entirely on the quantity of labor put into it; and the "unearned increment" of land is a  proper object for taxation.  (<influenced>  Karl Marx* made great use of the second proposition.)

1824, the Utilitarian publication, the "Westminster Review" caused a stir.  In its first edition, Mill attacked the "Edinburgh Review",  accusing the liberals of pandering to the aristocracy. He followed this up with articles denouncing church establishments and the inadequacies of the governing classes.

In 1825, the debate on non-sectarian education that had begun 14 years earlier resulted in the foundation of London University.  Mill was a member of the first council of the University and was actively involved in making appointments to the various Chairs.

In 1829, Mill published his "Analysis of the Human Mind", which he had begun seven years earlier.  In the same year, in the "Edinburgh Review," historian <attacked by> Macaulay* attacked Mill's "Government" article. A heated debate followed, but Mill did not take part; in fact, he supported Macaulay's appointment to the Indian Council, and when Macaulay set sail, he took Mill's "History of India" with him.

Mill's health began to deteriorate. After 1830, when he was 57, he divided his time between his home in Kensington and his summer home in Mickleham, Surrey. He continued to give advice on Indian matters and to write articles.  In 1835. he proposed a  reform scheme for the church,  arguing that there should be no  ceremony or dogma, and that instead of clergy there should be officials who preached morality and natural theism.

ASSESSMENT:  Mill was the main propagator of Bentham's Utilitarianism theories,  and through his writings had a significant influence on the parliamentary and political reforms of the 19th century.

EXTRA CONNECTIONS:  With <collaborated with> Birkbeck*, founded University College, London.

A member with <club-member with> Malthus* of  the Political Economy Club. 

Knew <knew> Hannah More*

ONELINER: James Mill, libertarian philosopher

BIBLIOGRAPHY: 

Stephen, Leslie,  The English Utilitarians, James Mill, Thoemmes, Bristol, 1991