Education, Democracy and Representation in John Stuart Mill's Political Philosophy

View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Durham e-Theses Durham E-Theses Education, Democracy and Representation in John Stuart Mill's Political Philosophy MORRICONE, CORRADO How to cite: MORRICONE, CORRADO (2016) Education, Democracy and Representation in John Stuart Mill's Political Philosophy, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11683/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 EDUCATION, DEMOCRACY AND REPRESENTATION IN JOHN STUART MILL’S POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY Corrado Morricone Abstract This thesis is concerned with John Stuart Mill’s democratic theory. In chapter I, I examine the relations between political philosophy and political theory and science before providing a detailed outline of the aims of the dissertation. In chapter II, I argue that in order to reconcile the concepts of progress and equality within a utilitarian theory, a Millian political system needs to devise institutions that promote general happiness, protect individual autonomy, safeguard society from mediocrity. Chapter III discusses what different authors have said about Mill and liberty, then explores James Mill’s theory of education and Coleridge’s influence on John Stuart Mill’s thought. I conclude by criticising Richard Arneson’s interpretation according to which the Considerations and On Liberty are inconsistent, and some of Gregory Claeys’ conclusions on Mill and paternalism. Chapter IV explores the methodology of the social sciences and the philosophy of history as found in Mill’s writings; then it considers Mill’s thought in regard to his father’s Radical proposals. I also discuss at some length the idea of the tyranny of the majority. Chapter V begins with a discussion of Hanna Pitkin’s theory of representation. I then provide a critical account of Richard Krouse and Nadia Urbinati’s interpretations of Mill. I conclude by arguing that, in a Millian democracy, the higher is the degree of complexity or the need for expertise in dealing with affairs, the greater is the bearing of the principle of competence in assessing whether a representative should act as a trustee or a delegate. I also introduce the idea of rational debate as a sort of ‘influence multiplier’, arguing that this would help to make a democracy rational and effective along Millian lines. In the last two chapters, I stress the relevance of Mill’s political philosophy as for some contemporary issues (nationalism, European federalism, current social and economic changes) while suggesting some potential further investigations, and summarise my conclusions. EDUCATION, DEMOCRACY AND REPRESENTATION IN JOHN STUART MILL'S POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY Corrado Morricone Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Philosophy Durham University 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 7 I.I. Between political philosophy and political science .................................................. 8 I.II. The aims of this study ........................................................................................................ 10 II. A NOTE ON THE UTILITARIAN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY ........................................... 18 II.I. Mill’s Utilitarianism............................................................................................................. 18 II.II. Utilitarianism’s core political concepts ..................................................................... 26 III. EDUCATION .................................................................................................................................... 30 III.I. A Romantic self-improvement? Mill and the idea of education ...................... 32 III.II. Liberty in individual ethics and in politics ............................................................. 36 III.III. Political participation, competence and education ........................................... 52 III.IV. Education, society and state ....................................................................................... 55 III.V. Paternalism and anti-paternalism, individual improvement and political process: analogies and consistencies .................................................................................. 71 IV. DEMOCRACY ................................................................................................................................... 80 IV.I. Methodology of the social sciences and philosophy of history ....................... 80 IV.II. Parliament and government......................................................................................... 86 IV.III. The tyranny of the majority ..................................................................................... 111 IV.IV. Mill as political philosopher: was he a democrat? .......................................... 124 IV.V. Democratic competence .............................................................................................. 128 IV.VI. Political ethics in Mill’s theory of representative government ................. 134 V. REPRESENTATION ..................................................................................................................... 140 V.I. A general theory of representation: the mandate/independence controversy .......................................................................................................................................................... 140 V.II. Mill on political representation ................................................................................. 143 V.III. Krouse and Urbinati on Mill and political representation ............................ 145 V.IV. Mill's theory of political representation in the light of a general theory of representation ........................................................................................................................... 147 VI. RELEVANCE OF MILL’S POLITICAL THOUGHT TODAY............................................. 158 VI.I. Social, economic and technological change: when happiness departs from freedom ........................................................................................................................................ 161 VII.II. Nationalism, cosmopolitanism, European federalism .................................. 168 VII. CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................................... 178 BIBLIOGRAPHY & REFERENCES ............................................................................................... 188 4 THE COPYRIGHT OF THIS THESIS RESTS WITH THE AUTHOR. NO QUOTATION FROM IT SHOULD BE PUBLISHED WITHOUT THE AUTHOR'S PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT AND INFORMATION DERIVED FROM IT SHOULD BE ACKNOWLEDGED. 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Geoffrey Scarre, for his academic guidance since October 2010: during all this time, he has been an excellent supervisor who has always provided enlightening comments, often suggested interested readings, and in many occasions stimulated critical considerations on the subjects covered by my thesis. Many of the good things (and none of the bad ones) of this thesis are the fruit of his supervision. Above all, I have appreciated his calm and his ability to instil confidence and encouragement. I would also like to mention and thank Daniel Duggan: in Easter term 2014 he started and organised the intellectual history and political thought reading group on John Stuart Mill’s Considerations on Representative Government. Detailed discussions and a few insightful comments by the attendants have helped me to notice and understand better some of the issues related to Mill’s political philosophy, in particular his ideas on democracy and historical development, and on suffrage. Dr Alan Roberts, Sabrina Di Pietro and Shuzhang Sun have proofread some sections of this work and improved their style and prose. I want to thank them too. I still bear full responsibility, of course, for any convoluted expression and any questionable choice of words. As I believe, in an Epicurean fashion, that one should never cease to laugh, and philosophise, and do other things and use his or her other faculties (as many as one can, at least), I want to thank my old friends in Italy along with all the new friends, housemates and acquaintances I met in the United Kingdom for every little moment of amusement and relaxation during the last five years. Federica (although my attempts to introduce her to philosophy have gone nowhere so far) has been a source of happiness and incredible love since November 2014 – and this has hugely helped me during the final months of my doctorate. Last but

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