John Stuart Mill’s Principles of Political Economy (1848) was written to be a modern successor to Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. Mill sought to integrate the subsequent economic advances of thinkers like David Ricardo and Thomas Malthus with a more progressive “philosophy of society.” The editor’s introduction notes that the book’s full title, Principles of Political Economy With Some of Their Applications to Social Philosophy, underscores its role as Mill’s most substantial work in social ethics.

Key Aims and Philosophical Context:

• Practical Application: Mill explicitly stated his goal was “practical, and, as far as the nature of the subject admits, popular,” aiming to associate economic principles with their real-world applications, much like Adam Smith. He saw political economy not as a standalone science but as “a fragment of a greater whole; a branch of Social Philosophy.”
• Rejection of Economic Pessimism: While accepting the analytical contributions of Ricardo and Malthus, Mill rejected their bleak conclusions about the inevitability of widespread poverty. He sought to demonstrate that the laws of economics were not an insurmountable bar to human progress and social reform.
• Clarification of Mill’s Philosophy: The editor argues that this work is essential for resolving the perceived inconsistencies between Mill’s other major works, On Liberty and Utilitarianism. It reveals that Mill was not a simple libertarian, as his positions on government intervention and his self-identification as a socialist demonstrate.
• Views on Socialism: In prefaces to later editions, Mill clarified that his critiques of specific socialist schemes were not a “general condemnation of all that is commonly included under that name.” He stated that the primary obstacle to such systems was the “unprepared state of mankind,” and that the “great end of social improvement should be to fit mankind by cultivation for a state of society combining the greatest personal freedom with that just distribution of the fruits of labour.”