Book Description
The Autobiography of John Stuart Mill is written by the author who was a 19th century British philosopher, economist, and a member of parliament. John Stuart Mill wrote some of the most important political works including On Liberty, Utilitarianism, and Representative Government. Mill's autobiography is an important work for those interested in understanding the life of this great political thinker and is highly recommended for those that are interested in John Stuart Mill and those who have read his other works and are interested in learning more about John Stuart Mill. ... Read more

Book Description
A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive : being a connected view of the principles of evidence and the methods of scientific investigationMill's Logic, first published in 1843, firmly established Mill as the leader of the empirical school of logic. A System of Logic is the first major installment of his comprehensive restatement of an empiricist and utilitarian position. It begins the attack on ""intuitionism"" which Mill carried on throughout his life, and makes plain his belief that social planning and political action should rely primarily on scientific knowledge, not on authority, custom, revelation, or prescription.Contents include: OF NAMES AND PROPOSITIONS - Of the Necessity of commencing with an Analysis of Language, Of Names, Of the Things denoted by Names, Of Proposition, Of the Import of Propositions, Of Propositions merely Verbal, Of the nature of Classification and the five Predicables, Of Definition. OF REASONING - Of Inference, or Reasoning in General, Of Ratiocination, or Syllogism, Of the Functions, and logical Values of Syllogism, Of trains of Reasoning and Deductive Sciences, Of Demonstration and Necessary truths. OF INDUCTION - Observations on Induction in General, On the Ground of Induction, Ofthe Laws of Nature, Of The Law of Universal Causation, Of The Composition of Causes, Of Observation and Experiment, Four Methods of Experimental Enquiry, Miscellaneous Examples, Plurality of Causes, Of the Deductive Method, Explanation of Laws of Nature.Keywords: Knowledge, Theory of; Logic; Science -- Methodology ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

This printing is GARBAGE.
I agree with the first reviewer.Mill's work is spectacular, but this printing is an INSULT to a great thinker and human being.The text is barely legible, and in the copy I received a number of pages had the text cropped off on the left side.Unbelievable that anyone thinks they can sell this for 40 dollars!It's really a disgrace.I would have written to the publisher, but I didn't see an address.Pitiful, just pitiful.

They really should offer a "Look Inside"...
Then you'd get some idea how badly your eyes would hurt trying to read this reprint.The quality is horrible, just horrible.It reminds me of the first faxes I saw (back in the 80s, right?).That being said, everyone should have a copy of this book, and (ever the optimist) the poor quality of print forces you to read slowly which is something the material in this book cries for on its own.Do not rely on the received view of Mill, especially the view propogated by Frege, Ayer, Russell, et al. that Mill held the bizarre view that at some point 2+2 might not =4.Read what he actually says for yourself!In the end, I'm grateful to have my own personal copy of this unsung classic of philosophy; so grateful, in fact, that I don't have too much heartburn over having paid a pretty penny for a crappy reprint.Still, the print of this edition (the only other edition I've seen is one from around 1900), is so poor, I have to give this edition (the yellow cover w/ full title) only 2 stars.So, I'd probably try the other edition first, but if this was the only one I could get, I'd still get it just for the value of having Mill's own words at my beck and call. ... Read more

Book Description
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Customer Reviews (1)

Terrible edition
As you read throug the Prometheus Great Books in Philosophy edition, you'll find that 32 pages are missing. Although these seems to be a very enlightning and interesting book, you'll never know it if you read thisedition.I found another complaint about these editions in a review ohThomas Hobbes Leviathan. I guess Amazon should be more carefull about theirmerchandise, or at least inform its costumers of the problems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

an excellent plunge into liberal thought
John Stuart Mill sets the stage for all liberal political thought.He discusses such topics as the role of society over the individual, the role of the individual over society, the death penalty, the importance of the individual, the ideal voter, the ideal citizen, the role of women in society, and the importance of personal liberty.Alan Ryan superbly organizes this edition by also including some constructive criticisms of Mill's thought in the last partition.This book is an excellent edition for any student of political philosophy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Ifyou want to understand Mill
you could not do better than to read this book.It lays out his ideas and the inevitable results of those ideas.Himmelfarb shows how what is called classical liberalism, meaning equal rights, freedom to worship, universal franchise, led to the adversary culture we have today where all authority is suspect. She points out how Mill, without meaning to do so, was instrumental in bringing about the notion that being in a constant state of rebellion against all convention and tradition constituted freedom. Although he advocated the total freedom of the individual to do as he/she wants, Mill operated on certain underlying premises, about social order, crime, honesty, tolerance, that he never imagined would end up in the situation we have today of license rather than liberty.For instance, Mill was very severe on criminals to the point of thinking that his age was too lenient!He recognized that the kind of liberty he wanted people to have depended on people being law abiding.Mill was also very conservative on sexual matters.There were those in his day who believed in sexual liberation, but he did not agree with them. Mill also saw the great importance that a nation have a common culture that would enable people to live together peacefully, that would make them feel they were all part of the same nation, with the same interests.Mill apparently never dreamed that his ideas would lead to the kind of resentment of all restraint that is the norm today among a large part of western society. Mill never said so explicitly, but he expected that while some were living in total freedom, others would continue to do what had to be done to keep civilization going, that is, not acting freely, but doing their duty. Mill never really acknowledged the inconsistency of his ideas, which was that people would be totally free, yet society would continue to be orderly and people would continue to cooperate together. And of course Mill never acknowledged that the freedom he advocated in turn depended on an agreement about the freedom.If people say, well, we are free to destroy the freedom, what happens then.An excellent well written book that shows how the "counterculture" came about, along with the idea that everything that is, at least in western culture, is bad.

One other thing, Mill's wife was a great advocate for the poor and for socialism.Himmelfarb quotes one priceless letter from his wife, when she complains how she has to move her summer house because of the noxious views of the poor people's houses across from her. How little things change!

A Fly in Himmelfarb's Eye
This book is an attempt by Ms. Himmelfarb to fit Mill into her vision of the 19th century. One only has to actually read On Liberty to realize that she hasn't suceeded.A more succinct (and less expensive) version of her thesis is her introduction to the Penguin edition of On Liberty.It is like having a creationist write an introduction to Darwin's Origin Of Species.

conservative ideology
Himmelfarb is a conservative ideologue who is extremely unsympathetic to Mill's liberalism, which she seems to view as the root of all cultural evil in modern America. Her thesis that there are "two Mills" (one aclassical liberal, the other -- inconsistent with the first -- a radicalfeminist/socialist controlled by his wife) has been thoroughly discreditedin the academic literature. It is simply a product of Himmelfarb's ownconfusions. The book is so misleading as to be worthless.

The Amazing Professor Himmelfarb Does It Again!
Yet another example of thorough and enlivened scholarship from this great historian!Professor Himmelfarb provides salient clues on the apparent dichotomy in Mill's thought, particularly in those areas of personalliberty and responsibility.Mill's abdication to his wife's opinionsappears to be (unfortunately, in this case) the primary cause of thedisconnect between the philosophy in most of Mill's work compared to thatin his magnum opus, On Liberty.The supporting references on Mrs. Mill'simpact are numerous and irrefutable, particularly Mill's owncorrespondence.This book is indispensible for those interested in Milland his influence on Anglo/American thought. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

A great resource on Victorian Women's Literature!
Rossi proposes a good argument on the Authorship of "Enfranchismentof Women". However, I feel that, at times, her argument becomes veryconfusing.There seems to me to be no doubt that Harriet Taylor Millactually wrote the essay. ... Read more

Book Description
Stephen Nathanson's clear-sighted abridgment of Principles of Political Economy, Mill's first major work in moral and political philosophy, provides a challenging, sometimes surprising account of Mill's views on many important topics: socialism, population, the status of women, the cultural bases of economic productivity, the causes and possible cures of poverty, the nature of property rights, taxation, and the legitimate functions of government. Nathanson cuts through the dated and less relevant sections of this large work and includes significant material omitted in other editions, making it possible to see the connections between the views Mills expressed in Principles of Political Economy and the ideas he defended in his later works, particularly On Liberty. Indeed, studying Principles of Political Economy, Nathanson argues in his general Introduction, can help to resolve the apparent contradiction between Mill's views in On Liberty and those in Utilitarianism, making it a key text for understanding Mill's philosophy as a whole. ... Read more

Product Description
A provocative anthology of the nineteenth century's most original mindJohn Stuart Mill has been called the Saint of Rationalism -- one of the finest thinking organs the world has ever known -- and the standard-bearer of liberalism.Unorthodox in his approach to social problems, but keenly democratic in his hatred of dictatorship, Mill wrote impassioned essays on a host of related subjects: Politics, Philosophy, Economics, Religion and Literature. Despite his unparalleled brilliance, Mill is rarely known beyond his political writings.This anthology brings together Mill's most significant essays in a variety of fields. It is an important contribution to a full understanding of Mill's genius and his great affection for humanity, and contains a fine introduction by the editor, Albert William Levi, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, Washington University. ... Read more

Book Description
This volume unites, for the first time, Books IV and V of Mill's great treatise on political economy with his fragmentary chapters on socialism. His answers to policy questions are still highly relevant today, and Riley's introduction clarifies his distinctive liberal utilitarian philosophy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

flawed but brilliant book.
John Stuart Mill was almost as unlucky as Karl Marx. Mill was the right man at the right time when it came to summing up Classical Economics. He was both brilliant and well situated. As the son of James Mill he knew David Ricardo well. Mill was also a gifted student. He spoke multiple languages as a small child. Mill famously claimed that "Happily, there is nothing in the laws of Value which remains for the present or any future writer to clear up; the theory of the subject is complete: the only difficulty to be overcome is that of so stating it as to solve by anticipation the chief perplexities which occur in applying it." Little did he know that in a few years the 'marginal revolution' would shred his definitive restatement of Ricardian economics.

Another notable-quotable passage concerns socialism: "If, therefore, the choice were to be made between Communism with all its chances, and the present [1852] state of society with all its sufferings and injustices; if the institution of private property necessarily carried with it as a consequence, that the produce of labour should be apportioned as we now see it, almost in an inverse ratio to the labour--the largest portions to those who have never worked at all, the next largest to those whose work is almost nominal, and so in a descending scale, the remuneration dwindling as the work grows harder and more disagreeable, until the most fatiguing and exhausting bodily labour cannot count with certainty on being able to earn even the necessaries of life; if this or Communism were the alternative, all the difficulties, great or small, of Communism would be but as dust in the balance." Looks like JSM is on the wrong side of history again, but he also noted: "But to make the comparison applicable, we must compare Communism at its best, with the régime of individual property, not as it is, but as it might be made." Fair enough. There are many other notable-quotable sections of Mill's book, though this edition omits many of them.

Mill's book is about the earliest work on comparative economic systemsthat I know of. The inclusion of Mills' chapters on socialism add much to this edition. Given that he was writing in the shadow of Malthus, he does take a rather pessimistic tone at times. Yet his discussion of the stationary state are interesting. On page 129 Mill discusses how the stationary state does not impose insurmountable obstacles to human improvement. It is also interesting to note the degree to which his arguments for limited government involvement in the economy fits with modern economic theory.

Mill was one of the greatest social theorists of all times. Yet he (and Marx) failed to see the importance of marginal concepts in economics. Mill was, however, a much better social theorist than Marx. Mill was able to arrive at some sound conclusions without modern price theory. This book also reveals Mills abilities as a social philosopher. This is a rare example of a book that it vitally important despite being fundamentally wrong. It is important not merely for historical reasons. PPE makes you think more deeply about economics, politics, and philosophy. Few thinkers have been as thought provoking as Mill, and likely few will match his level of acumen in the future.

Great book, but not in this edition
This book gives a comprehensive and readable, if somewhat formally written overview of classical economics, reflecting the state of the field in 1848. As may be expected of a book 150+ years old, much of its content is outdated today. But it's remarkable how well Mill's thoughts about the mechanics of the economy, and how they affect the fabric of society, have aged. It is most instructive to read the book in parallel with a competing, much more enthusiastically hyped text, also published in 1848: Karl Marx's "Communist Manifesto". Mill's "Principles" are required reading for everyone seriously interested in the history of economic thought.

But I have to agree with the earlier reviewer: don't read it in this edition! It's not just the footnotes, some of which were reprinted, some of which weren't. The trouble is that "Book 1: Production", is missing completely. That's a fifth of the whole text! That's the reason I'm giving the book three stars: five for the content, one for the edition.

My advice would be this: Check out the book in electronic form, which is available at the www.econlib.org website. If you like it, by all means buy a paper edition -- but not this one!

correction from argentina
I must be a complete idiot. I finally decided to open this abridged edition of Mill's Political Economy & Chaps on Socialism, just to see what's going on in there. Lo & behold, as anybody with eyes can see,there ARE extensive notes on the text, including an index of names referredto by Mill! However, I wish to reiterate my claim that it is an "awfuledition" for idiots who don't open the book or are unable to read thetable of contents. Why doesn't Oxford provide user guides to explain thesecomplex matters?

Awful Edition
The Oxford Classic's edition of th Principles of J.S.Mill is an awful one. It not only omits complete sections of the work and doesn't mention it in the cover but lacks notes and even an index.

Don't buy it! ... Read more

Book Description
Another in the popular Guided Tour series designed for the philosophical novice, this book demands students’ active participation and helps them develop critical reading, thinking, and writing skills. ... Read more