Title: J.S. Mill on civilization and barbarism /
Authors: Levin, Michael, 1940-
Publisher: Routledge,
Year: 2004
Subjects: Mill, John Stuart, Views on civilization.; Mill, John Stuart,; Civilization Philosophy
Abstract: "John Stuart Mill's best-known work is On Liberty (1859). In it he declared that Western society was in danger of coming to a standstill. This was an extraordinarily pessimistic claim in view of Britain's global dominance at the time and one that has been insufficiently investigated in the secondary literature. The warning model was that of China, a once advanced civilization that had apparently ossified. To understand how Mill came to this conclusion requires one to investigate his notion of the stages of development from barbarism to civilization and also his belief in imperialism as part of the civilizing process. Here India plays a central role, as both Mill and his father worked for the East India Company.