Jurisprudence

by James Mill

James Mill (1773-1836) was a Scottish historian, economist, political theorist, and philosopher. He was the father of influential philosopher of classical liberalism, John Stuart Mill. In 1798, he was licensed as a preacher, but met with little success. From 1790 to 1802, in addition to holding various tutorships, he occupied himself with historical and philosophical studies. From 1803 to 1806, he was editor of an ambitious periodical called the Literary Journal. About the end of 1806 he began his The History of British India, which he took twelve years to complete. In 1814, he wrote a number of articles, containing an exposition of utilitarianism, for the supplement to the fifth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, the most important being Jurisprudence, Prisons and Prison Discipline and Government. In 1821, he helped found the Political Economy Club in London, which became a stomping ground for Ricardian economists and Benthamite radicals. Mill's Elements of Political Economy (1821) became the leading textbook exposition of doctrinaire Ricardian economics.

Genres: Philosophy

68 pages, Paperback

First published December 26, 2008

About the author

James Mill (born James Milne) was a Scottish historian, economist, political theorist, and philosopher. He is counted among the founders of the Ricardian school of economics. His son, John Stuart Mill, was also a noted philosopher of liberalism, utilitarianism and the civilizing mission of the British Empire.

Although he never set foot in India at any time in his life, James Mill took upon himself the task of writing the monumental History of British India, a classic of colonial self-congratulation which contains a complete denunciation and rejection of Indian culture and civilisation and which both exhorts and extolls the civilizing mission of the British in the subcontinent. He was the first writer to divide Indian history into three parts: Hindu, Muslim and British, a classification which has proved surpassingly influential in the field of Indian historical studies, but which is seen in recent decades as being deeply problematic.