Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Childhood and Early Education: The Great Experiment (1806–1820)
- 2 Company Man and Youthful Propagandist (1821–1826)
- 3 Crisis (1826–1830)
- 4 The Discovery of Romance and Romanticism (1830–1840)
- 5 The Transitional Essays
- 6 Intellectual Success (1840–1845)
- 7 Worldly Success (1846–1850)
- 8 Private Years (1850–1859)
- 9 The Memorial Essays
- 10 Public Intellectual (1859–1869)
- 11 Last Years (1869–1873)
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
7 - Worldly Success (1846–1850)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Childhood and Early Education: The Great Experiment (1806–1820)
- 2 Company Man and Youthful Propagandist (1821–1826)
- 3 Crisis (1826–1830)
- 4 The Discovery of Romance and Romanticism (1830–1840)
- 5 The Transitional Essays
- 6 Intellectual Success (1840–1845)
- 7 Worldly Success (1846–1850)
- 8 Private Years (1850–1859)
- 9 The Memorial Essays
- 10 Public Intellectual (1859–1869)
- 11 Last Years (1869–1873)
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Following on the heels of the success of the Logic, the publication in 1848 of the Principles of Political Economy established Mill as “the” leading British intellectual and as a major voice in public policy debate. What he addressed in that monumental work were the social implications of the Industrial Revolution.
Mill's understanding of the history and evolution of the Industrial Revolution was influenced by his early reading. Mill had read Adam Smith in 1819, when he was thirteen, as well as Ricardo. He had read the histories of Hume, Robertson, Millar, and Ferguson, and, eventually, Hume's Essays. From these he derived the typical Scottish Enlightenment historical thesis that economic and social progress is marked by three stages: savagery, barbarism, and civilization. The economy of the savages is based upon war. However, there is no large-scale organization, so in the end “a savage tribe consists of a handful of individuals, wandering or thinly scattered over a vast tract of country.” It is, moreover, characterized by its lack of agriculture, commerce, industry, or the rule of law. What passes for the administration of justice is the fiat of rulers. The savage has virtues, such as energy and courage, but his main vice is a lack of discipline and a consequent inability to cooperate in any large common venture. The “savage cannot bear to sacrifice, for any purpose, the satisfaction of the individual will.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- John Stuart MillA Biography, pp. 192 - 226Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004