Mill On Civilization And Barbarism

This book investigates Mill's notion of the stages from barbarism to civilisation, his belief in imperialism as part of the civilising process and his discourses on the blessings, curses and dangers of modernisation.

This study investigates the awkward relationship between J. S. Mill's liberalism and his justification of imperialism. Includes a debate on the origins, meaning, and consequences of Western civilization Issues discussed include colonialism and orientalism, Enlightenment optimism and conservative despair, the need for leadership and the advance of democracy

Recent critics have declaimed against John Stuart Mill's liberalism, arguing that his conception of civilization is inexorably bound to a hierarchal conception of social progress justifying Europeans' moral right to “civilize” barbarian peoples. Without exonerating him of his undoubtedly problematic views regarding non-European cultures, I'd like to argue that Mill in fact has a much subtler view of historical development and of civilization than such critics attribute to him. Central to these critics' charges is an “aggregative” view of Mill's conceptualization of historical development - suggesting that Mill understood societies to move through discrete stages of social development, characterized by specifically correlated stages of economic, political, cultural and moral development - which fails to be borne out under close examination. Mill was keenly attuned to the vast differences between peoples, to the contingencies of historical development and to the great pathologies endemic in “civilized” states. He was equally aware that particular social stages did not immediately correspond to specific economic or political conditions; this challenges critics' contention that Mill reduced the world to a binary dichotomy distinguishing “civilized” from “barbarian” peoples. Given the great attention that he devoted to the very particular social, economic, cultural and political conditions under which people developed the capacities required for effective representative government - conditions that he saw as difficult to achieve in even the most “civilized” of states - I argue that the critics' characterization of Mill as an unquestioning imperialist must be re-considered.

The year 2006 marked the two hundredth anniversary of John Stuart Mill's birth. Though his philosophical reputation has varied greatly, it is now clear that Mill ranks among the most influential modern political thinkers. Despite his enduring influence, the breadth and complexity of Mill's political thought is often underappreciated. While his writings remain a touchstone for debates over liberty and liberalism, many other important dimensions of his political philosophy have until recently been ignored. This book aims to correct such neglect, by illustrating the breadth and depth of Mill's political writings, by drawing together a collection of essays whose authors explore underappreciated elements of Mill's political philosophy. The book shows how Mill's thinking remains pertinent to our own political life in three broad areas - democratic institutions and culture, liberalism, and international politics - and offers a critical reassessment of Mill's political philosophy in light of recent political developments and transformations.

Examines how distinctive liberalisms respond to racial, cultural, gender-based and class-based forms of diversity and difference.

This Companion offers a state-of-the-art survey of the work of John Stuart Mill — one which covers the historical influences on Mill, his theoretical, moral and social philosophy, as well as his relation to contemporary movements. Its contributors include both senior scholars with established expertise in Mill's thought and new emerging interpreters. Each essay acts as a "go-to" resource for those seeking to understand an aspect of Mill's thought or to familiarise themselves with the contours of a debate within the scholarship. The Companion is a key reference on Mill's theory of liberty and utilitarianism, but also provides a valuable resource on lesser-known aspects of his work, including his epistemology, metaphysics, and philosophy of language. The volume is divided into six sections. Part I covers Mill's life, his immediate posthumous reputation, and his own telling of his life-story. Part II brings together an accessible and comprehensive summary of the various influences on Mill's thought. Part III offers an account of the foundations of Mill’s philosophy and his thought on key philosophic topics. Parts IV and V tackle issues from Mill's moral and social philosophy. Part VI concludes with a treatment of the broader aspects of Mill’s thought, tracing his relation to major movements in philosophy.

In his much quoted, seminal work, On Liberty, John Stuart Mill attempts to establish standards for the relationship between authority and liberty. He emphasizes the importance of individuality which he conceived as a prerequisite to the higher pleasures-the summum bonum of Utilitarianism. Published in 1859, On Liberty presents one of the most eloquent defenses of individual freedom and is perhaps the most widely-read liberal argument in support of the value of liberty.

"Liberalism" is widely used to describe a variety of social and political ideas, but has been an especially difficult concept for historians and political scientists to define. Burckhardt, Mill, and Tocqueville define one type of liberal thought. They share an aristocratic liberalism marked by distaste for the masses and the middle class, opposition to the commercial spirit, fear and contempt of mediocrity, and suspicion of the centralized state. Their fears are combined with an elevated ideal of human personality, an ideal which affirms modernity. All see their ideals threatened in the immediate future, and all hope to save European civilization from barbarism and militarism through some form of education, although all grow more pessimistic towards the end of their lives. Aristocratic Liberalism ignores the national boundaries that so often confine the history of political thought, and uses the perspective thus gained to establish a pan-European type of political thought. Going beyond Burckhardt, Mill, and Tocqueville, Aristocratic Liberalism argues for new ways of looking at nineteenth-century liberalism. It corrects many prevalent misconceptions about liberalism, and suggests new paths for arriving at a better understanding of the leading form of nineteenth-century political thought. The new Afterword by the author presents a novel description of liberal political language as the "discourse of capacity," and suggests that this kind of language is the common denominator of all forms of European liberalism in the nineteenth century. Aristocratic Liberalism will be valuable to students of history, political science, sociology, and political philosophy.

PARADOX AND CONTRADICTION "WAR IS THE HEALTH OF THE STATE" RANDOLPH BOURNE WAR AND THE THREAT OF WAR HAVE CARRIED US TO UNDREAMED OF HEIGHTS OF ACHIEVEMENT IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE. THEY HAVE ALSO LED TO THE WORST EXCESSES OF DEPRAVITY. THE LANDSCAPE OF HISTORY IS LITTERED WITH THE RUINS OF ONCE GREAT CIVILIZATIONS CONSIGNED TO THE DUSTBIN OF HISTORY, EIR MONUMENTS TRAMPLED UNDERFOOT, THEIR SUBJECTS ENSLAVED, DISPERSED OR PUT TO THE SWORD. ONE CAN HARDLY THRUST A SHOVEL INTO THE EARTH WITHOUT STRIKING THE REMAINS OF SOME HAPLESS VICTIM OF WAR THIS PARADOX AND THIS CONTRADICTION LIE AT THE HEART OF THE HUMAN CONDITION. CAN WE AVOID THE FATE OF COUNTLESS CIVILIZATIONS BEFORE US OR ARE WE DOOMED TO REPEAT THE PAST? CAN WE BREAK THE HOLD OF JUNGLE LAW? CAN WE SOLVE THE RIDDLE OF POPULATION AND ECONOMICS? CAN WE MANAGE OUR DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT RECOURSE TO WAR? ARE PERIODIC OUTS O BLOODLETTING AND GENOCIDE PART OF A LARGER ECO EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS? CIVILIZATION AND BARBARISM explores questions in several disciplines in a number of chapters with provocative titles such as: Rube Goldberg, Barney Google and Charles Darwin; Malthus The Undead; Darwin's Mice And Steinbeck's Men; Positive Science And "Irrational" Man; Homo Sapiens Rex: Sexual Evolution And The Maturational Threshold; Biological Boom And Bust – When Credit Falls Like Rain On Credit Default Swaps; The First Commandment Is: "Thou Shalt Kill!" and Opiate Or Placebo. Dr. Feied earned his doctorate at Columbia University. He and has taught at the University of California at Berkeley, Michigan State University and California State University at San Jose as well as other colleges and universities. He currently resides in Berkeley where he divides his time between writing and racing his thirty–eight foot sloop on San Francisco Bay.