Principles of Political Economy: And Chapters on Socialism

by John Stuart Mill

This volume unites, for the first time, Books IV and V of Mill's great treatise on political economy with his fragmentary Chapters on Socialism. It shows him applying his classical economic theory to policy questions of lasting concern: the desirability of sustained growth of national wealth and population, the merits of capitalism versus socialism, and the suitable scope of government intervention in the competitive market economy. His answers to those questions have profound relevance today, and they serve to illustrate the enduring power and imagination of his distinctive liberal utilitarian philosophy. The lucid introduction and explanatory notes clarify Mill's philosophy in relation to his economic theory, and make full use of the most recent scholarship.

Genres: Economics, Politics, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Classics, Academic, Business

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1848

About the author

John Stuart Mill, English philosopher, political economist, civil servant and Member of Parliament, was an influential liberal thinker of the 19th century. He was an exponent of utilitarianism, an ethical theory developed by Jeremy Bentham, although his conception of it was very different from Bentham's.

Reviews

[Zachary Zarb · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ngl chief, this book a boner killer. I get it was written so long ago, but this was drier than the Sahara. I will say however, to JSM’s credit (just realized that John Stuart Mill and Sarah J Maas have the same 3 initials), that PPE contains some of the most progressive ideology concerning the working class and the role of women I’ve read to date. If you’re looking for smut, 19th century political philosophy just ain’t gon do it bub

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s not the most engrossing book you’ll ever read, but that’s not really the point now is it?

[Andrew Noselli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little did I know that by reading this book I would be exposed directly to the writings of Louis Blanc, whom I was only made aware of previously in the writings of Karl Marx. To my consternation, I was unable to find any suitable translations of works by this author on Amazon.com. Keeping great socialist writers of the past in mind, I will be reading works by Jean Jaures beginning next month, which I have discovered are available to rent on Amazon's website. Would you suspect these texts to be dangerous to the continued advance of the capitalist worldview? Reflecting on the pages in this book where John Stuart Mill conceives the idea of a workable "decentralized" socialism, I'm sorry that he did not live to see the birth of postmodern capitalism in the 21st century. Judging from my perspective, the capitalist system, in its progression from the late 19th to the early 21st centuries, has enacted its own denouement over and over and, thus, through a symbolic auto da fe, has come to incorporate socialistic elements that combine both government planning and government intervention. Mill's essays call for the appearance of a political system regulated by market conditions where public limits on private ownership are established in a fair way. However, it seems to me that the fact that American capitalism has invented artificial intelligence, and is currently in the process of rolling out A.I.-generated forces for production, will increase the tendency of capitalism to solidify the hegemony of monopolies to the detriment of workers solidarity which, although this something which hardly can be said to exist in the post-terror world, demonstrates that the consumer-driven economy will have the rug pulled from under it at sometime in the near future. It may be time to recall Nietzsche's nihilistic vision of the last man who, as the sole survivor of a world decimated by war, finds himself driven to madness by a tyrannical enslavement to machinery that renders him obsolete and eternally torn away from a world that purports to serve his needs. Three stars.

[Abdulaziz Fagih · Rating 5 out of 5]

جون أستورت مل غني عن التعريف ولذلك سأنتقل الى تقييم الكتاب مباشرة


هذا هو أفضل الكتب التي مرت علي في الأقتصاد الرأسمالي الكلاسيكي والكتاب أصدر في القرن التاسع عشر فهو يتحدث بكثافة على عوامل وعناصر الأقتصاد الأساسية

بقية التقيم على الرابط

http://mt-awf.blogspot.com/2011/09/bl...

[Christopher Byram · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first heard about John Stuart Mill during a philosophy course I took either at university or online; I became aware that he was a philosopher. I discovered this work "Principles of Political Economy: And Chapters on Socialism" when it featured in a list of "Oxford World's Classics" on the final couple of pages of James George Frazer's "The Golden Bough".

[Chen Yang · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is most interesting to me after reading this book is that, despite the concepts to be somewhat relevant in the modern era, the models and examples given are rather obsolete. Goes to show how much our world has changed in the past 100 years or so.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an audiobook from LibriVox.

https://librivox.org/principles-of-po...

[Liang · Rating 4 out of 5]

前面比较有用啊，跟不上作者的论述
后面跳了些

[J.S. Nelson]

DNF

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mills' fantastically thorough analysis of economics is remarkable both for its breadth as well as it's continued relevancy.

Some of it has lost any bearing in the modern world (whole chapters devoted to cottier farming!) and some of it remains politically controversial (progressive taxation). JSM's attempts to humanize that which Adam Smith made unnecessarily cruel are illuminating. His dialogue with socialism as the editions evolved are also fascinating.

Still, the length of the book and Mills' attention to minutia make this a less than stellar read. The abridged version is probably less of a slog.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes its easier to read economic philosophy from the 18th and 19th centuries because of the way it begins simply and then builds upon itself until a complex, but understandable, framework lays before you. JSM does just that and in a far better way than any of his contemporaries or predecessors (Smith). Much of this is due to his writing style which is full of imagery and easy to understand examples.

[Jeremy Egerer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Couldn't finish all of Principles, because I already read Ludwig von Mises' "Human Action," which was light years ahead of it. I might come back to it again; essentially of some historical value, for looking at the capitalist world before we had decades of failed socialism, but extremely dated as far as economics are concerned. Read Mises' Human Action instead.