Principles of Political Economy IV-V (töredék) [antikvár]

IntroductionFrom the moment of its first publication in 1848, John Stuart Mill's Principles of Political Economy, with Some of Their Applications to Social Philosophy established itself as a classic. For almost half a century, and long after many of its component ideas had been controverted, it had no equal in terms of scope and stature. Considered simply as an economics textbook, it enjoyed a longer active life than any comparable work either before or since. Unlike its successors, including the work which replaced it as the bible of English economics, Alfred Marshall's Principle of Economics, published in 1890, it was read by the serious-minded general public as well as by dedicated students and those who merely wished to pass examinations. Indeed, it was the last work of its kind to combine broad appeal with authoritative exposition - a fact which sheds light equally on Mill's position in Victorian intellectual life, his audience, and the change which has occurred in the nature of economics since the end of the nineteenth century. As the subtitle of the book implies, the work was far from being merely a textbook of economic principles. It rapidly became part of the staple diet of progressive-minded Victorians, a common point of departure for those anxious to come to terms with the problems of the new industrial society.For these reasons alone Mill's Principles remains a valuable document to those interested in Victorian economic thought and intellectual debate. But the true significance of the work lies in its author rather than its readers. It is the mature product of one who has strong claims to be at once the best as well as the most influential nineteenth-century representative of the liberal rationalist tradition in social and political thought. As a recent commentator seeking to explain the revival of interest in Mill's writings has said, he is 'perhaps the last major English thinker whose attempt to apply philosophical principles to current issues is still worth examining'.^I. J. B. Schneewind (ed.). Mill: A Collection of Critical Essays (Anchor Books: 1968), p. xiii.II