Book Review:Mill by Frederic Rosen

Abstract

Although John Stuart Mill has an unassailable position as an empirical philosopher who played a leading role in political debates surrounding liberty in the nineteenth century, some commentators have suggested that his ideas are not as pressing today as they once were. Importantly, it is impossible to judge Mill’s ideas in line with contemporary values, given the way that they arose at a time when Western thinking was dominated by emerging theories of racial division and hierarchies and racist attitudes towards what were deemed to be “primitive” peoples became central to Western philosophy. Despite Mill’s belief that democracy was an innate and exclusive feature of the peoples of Northern Europe and North America, a study of the philosopher’s work remains crucial to understanding the evolution of political concepts, particularly issues of democracy and personal liberty.