TAFT FUND PHILOS. S8 Preface The material which goes to make up this book has been accumulated during a number of years of interest in Mill's life and writings. Even in our own time, with its increasing historical perspective, Mill continues to be thought of primarily as an exponent of utilitarianism, the association psychology, "classical" economic theory, and various brands of political reform. It seems worth while to emphasize his warm and winning personality, and to show that underlying all his interest in economic and social reform was a predominant interest in the development of individuality as the only satisfactory basis for social life. In the business of writing this essay Professor Herbert C. Schneider of Columbia University has given generously of his time and interest. Grateful acknowledgment is due also to Professors John Dewey, Emery Neff, and R. G. Tugwell for valuable criticism and suggestions. To Professor Dickinson S. Miller, formerly of Columbia University and the General Theological Seminary, now of Smith College, an ardent admirer of John Stuart Mill, I owe a debt of gratitude that I cannot well express. THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH HOUSE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO AUGUST, 1926 C. L. S. 812 2 4 JI 31 N CHAPTER Table of Contents III. SOME IMPORTANT FRIENDSHIPS. IV. THE INTERNAL CULTURE OF THE INDIVIDUAL V. INDIVIDUALITY AND POLITICAL ECONOMY. 61 82 99 APPENDIX. J. S. MILL'S REVIEW OF The Use and Abuse of Political Terms. 121 Chapter I. Introduction. "Everyone who wants to see our nation well governed," says Ex-president Hadley of Yale University in a recent volume of lectures entitled Liberty and Equality, "is crying out for some new issue on which parties shall be organized and by which American politics may be rescued from the chaos into which they have fallen. The one issue big enough for the purpose-big enough to transcend the appeal of business interest or class feeling or local prejudice is the issue between liberty and equality; the relative importance from the standpoint of the nation of allowing our citizens to develop their own powers in their own way—the claim of liberty-or of having all citizens given opportunities as nearly equal as possible for the pursuit of happiness-the claim of social justice. The man who has studied the history of liberty and equality and has thought out the lessons of that history is likely to have the same advantage over the mere opportunist in dealing with the politics of the next twenty years that Lincoln had in his day over those who thought that the slavery question could be settled by expedients like the Kansas-Nebraska Bill or doctrines like that of squatter sovereignty." The issue that Ex-president Hadley indicates is one that has appeared in many different forms and many different places. It is to be seen not only in the conflict between liberty 'A. T. Hadley, Liberty and Equality, pp. 1-2. |