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James Mill on Peace and War*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2009

Ryuji Yasukawa
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Extract

James Mill's views on peace and war have yet to be examined in detail. Only a few scholars have paid any attention to this aspect of his thought. Edmund Silberner was the first to give any extensive account of Mill's opposition to war and his proposals for universal peace, but chiefly from an economic point of view. He rightly pointed out that Mill's opposition to war was grounded mainly on his belief that war always obstructs the progress of national wealth, and also that Mill regarded the acquisition and possession of colonies as one of the major causes of war. F. H. Kinsley summed up the leading ideas of Mill's article on the ‘Law of Nations’, but only to show how far Bentham influenced Mill's thinking in this specific area.

Type
Research Article
Information
Utilitas , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , November 1991 , pp. 179 - 197
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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Footnotes

*

This paper is based on my MA dissertation submitted to the University of London in 1989. I am grateful to Dr Stephen Conway for his careful supervision and constant encouragement.

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