John Stuart Mill on Liberty and Control
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Hamburger, Joseph, PUBLISHER: Prong>inong>ceton University Press, John Stuart Mill is one of the hallowed figures of the liberal tradition, revered for his defense of liberal prong>inong>ciples ong>andong> expansive personal liberty. By examong>inong>ong>inong>g Mill's arguments ong>inong> "On Liberty ong>inong> light of his other writong>inong>gs, however, Joseph Hamburger reveals a Mill very different from the "saong>inong>t of rationalism" so central to liberal thought. He shows that Mill, far from beong>inong>g an advocate of a maximum degree of liberty, was an advocate of liberty "ong>andong> control--ong>inong>deed a degree of control ultimately ong>inong>compatible with liberal ideals. Hamburger offers this powerful challenge to conventional scholarship by presentong>inong>g Mill's views on liberty ong>inong> the ong>contextong> of his ideas about, ong>inong> particular, religion ong>andong> ong>historicalong> development. The book draws on the whole range of Mill's philosophical writong>inong>gs ong>andong> on his correspondence with, among others, Harriet Taylor Mill, Auguste Comte, ong>andong> Alexong>andong>er Baong>inong> to show that Mill's underlyong>inong>g goal was to replace the traditional religious basis of society with a form of secular religion that would rest on moral authority, ong>inong>dividual restraong>inong>t, ong>andong> ong>socialong> control. Hamburger argues that Mill was not self-contradictory ong>inong> thus championong>inong>g both control ong>andong> liberty. Rather, liberty ong>andong> control worked together ong>inong> Mill's thought as part of a balanced, coherent program of ong>socialong> ong>andong> moral reform that was neither liberal nor authoritarian. Based on a lifetime's study of nong>inong>eteenth-century political thought, this clearly written ong>andong> forcefully argued book is a major reong>inong>terpretation of Mill's ideas ong>andong> ong>inong>tellectual legacy.