James Mill (1773-1836)
I. Biographical and Historical Information.
A. Born on April 6, 1773 in Northwater Bridge, Forfarshire, Scotland. He spent his early education at the parish school of Logie-Port and at Montrose Academy. In 1790, he went to the University of Edinburgh, where, four years later, he graduated with a Master of Arts. He then studied Divinity, and became a licensed preacher in the Church of Scotland in 1798. After failing to secure a position as a minister, he left for London in 1803 to start his career as an author.
B. In 1805, James married Harriet Burrow and a year later, the first of nine children was born, John Stuart. In that same year, 1806, he began writing the History of British India; a book he would finish some twelve years later when it was first pu blished in 1818. In 1808, he meets Jeremy Bentham and begins writing columns, reviews and editorials for the Edinburgh Review.
C. Bentham shared many ideals with Mill. They both believed in religious toleration, legal reform, and freedom of speech and press. They both shared in the Utilitarianism philosophy, as well. They believed that the pursuit of pleasure and the avo idance of pain were the two purposes of all human action. The philosophy holds that self interest, such as pleasure or happiness, should be maximized and pain minimized. The same holds true for the public interest as well. This Utilitarian philos ophy is present in all of Mill's works and is what drove his push for reform.
D. In 1820, He published Essay on government. In 1823, in the Supplement to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Essays on Government, Jurisprudence, Liberty of the Press, Education, and Prisons and Prison Discipline were published. The ordering of these essays is believed to signify the importance Mill placed on them. These Essays are considered to be the cornerstone of Mill's political and educational thought. He later published the Analysis of the Phenomena of the Human Mind which centered mor e on philosophical subjects rather than political ones. Mill saw the passage of the Reform Act in 1832, but died shortly thereafter in London, in 1836.
II. Major Relevant Works.
A. Essay on government.
1. Government, Mill maintains, is "merely a means to an end". He says we can assume that every human being is motivated by a desire to experience pleasure and to avoid pain. Pleasures and pains come from two sources, our fellow human beings an d nature. Government is concerned directly with the first and indirectly with the second. Nature and human nature conspire to make government necessary. Government exists for humans to find happiness and to help find it by investing as little effort as possible.
2. Mill favored a representative democracy, where citizens elect representatives to deliberate and legislate on their behalf and in their interest. He favors frequent elections and short terms in office. Representatives are to be drawn from t he ranks of the people to which they can return once their time in office is up.
3. Mill insists that each person is the best, and perhaps the only, judge of what his own interests are. He also says the public interest can be represented only so far as the public has the vote. The public interest is the sum of all the indi vidual non-sinister interests.
B. Liberty of the Press.
1. Offenses of the Press with respect to Private Rights.
a.) In regards to the right of reputation, Mill states that "Every man should be considered as having a right to the character which he deserves; that is, to be spoken of according to his actions." Mill also states that it is important for t hese rights to be defined. "...the right can only have respect to security against certain words; words imputing to the individual, actions which he has not performed, or a disposition to certain actions, without evidence that such a disposit ion exists."
b.) Compensation should be made to the individual for injuries sustained by Offenses of the Press. The person who created the unfavorable opinion of another man is entitled to do everything in his power to remove that impression. Mill also advocates punishment stern enough to prevent the offenses from happening in the first place. He also questions whether the right of reputation extends beyond truth. Matters that can be disputed, such as religion, can, in some cases be untru thful.
2. Offenses of the Press with respect to Government.
a.) "Exhortations to obstruct the operations of Government in detail, should; Exhortations to resist all >