'Under the general designation of socialist': the many-sided-radicalism of John Stuart Mill

Thesis

This thesis examines why John Stuart Mill thought his political philosophy to be 'under the general designation of socialist' – an ideological position often thought to be antithetical to liberalism, of which Mill is regularly considered an exemplar. It suggests that in order to understand Mill's self-designation, one has to understand the changes his political theory underwent during his 'crisis', and how he developed a new, 'many-sided-radicalism' to replace the one-sided, Benthamite 'philosophical-radicalism' of his youth, in which he had lost his faith. It explains the core principles of many-sided-radicalism (happiness, liberty, equality, progress and harmony), and the institutions Mill felt would foster and uphold them. Finally, it seeks to situate Mill's many-sided-radicalism within three socialist contexts: his definition; contemporary understandings; and a conceptual definition. I utilise Mill's Collected Works to examine a wide range of his writings, bearing in mind the problems of interpretation caused by his 'crisis', in particular changes to the meaning of concepts (not least happiness); his philosophy of history; and his method of persuasion, along with writings by contemporaries, and modern historians and theorists. I conclude that Mill was a socialist on his own understanding of the word, committed to communal ownership of the means of production combined with private, unequal ownership of articles of consumption; work-place democracy; an egalitarian concept of justice; and the achievement of social harmony through co-operation. Historically, although sometimes linked to utopian socialism, he is a co-operative socialist, akin to Edward Vansittart Neale, William Thompson, Louis Blanc, and Phillipe Buchez and his followers. Conceptually, he is a liberal socialist, equally committed to core principles of liberty, equality and community. Recognising Mill's socialism should make us re-evaluate Mill, and the relationship between liberalism and socialism. It also hints at possible answers to questions of social justice which are neither totalitarian nor illiberal.

Authors: McCabe, H

• Publication date: 2012
• DOI: 10.5287/ora-j5exwd2eq
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: socialism; John Stuart Mill
• Subjects: Political science; Political ideologies; Intellectual History