Principles of Political Economy (Great Minds Series) [Paperback]

John Stuart Mill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 23, 2004 | Series: Great Mind

The standard economics textbook for more than a generation, John Stuart Mill's "Principles of Political Economy" (1848) was really as much a synthesis of his predecessors' ideas as it was an original economic treatise. Heavily influenced by the work of David Ricardo, and also taking ideas from Adam Smith and Thomas Malthus, Mill systematically demonstrated how important economic concepts could be applied to real-world situations. In his emphasis on realism, Mill thus took economics out of the realm of the abstract and placed it squarely within the context of society. For anyone with an interest in the history of economics or the history of ideas, this landmark work of classical economics makes for stimulating and in many respects still very relevant reading.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Stuart Mill was born in London on May 20, 1806, the son of noted Scottish economist and philosopher James Mill, who held an influential post in the powerful East India Company. Mill's natural talent and physical stamina were put to the test at a very young age when he undertook a highly structured and individualized upbringing orchestrated by his father, who believed that the mind was a passive receptacle for human experience. His education and training were so intense that he was reading Greek at the age of three and doing independent writing at six.

Mill's education broadened considerably after 1823 when he entered the East India Company to commence his life's career as his father had done before him. He traveled, became politically involved, and in so doing moved away from the narrower sectarian attitudes in which he had been raised. His ideas and imagination were ignited by the Coleridge, Comte, and de Tocqueville. During his life, Mill wrote many influential works: A SYSTEM OF LOGIC (1843); PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL ECONOMY (1848); ON LIBERTY (1859); UTILITARIANISM (1863); EXAMINATION OF SIR WILLIAM HAMILTON'S PHILOSOPHY (1865); THE SUBJECTION OF WOMEN (1869); and AUTOBIOGRAPHY (1873). As a defender of individual freedom and human rights, John Stuart Mill lives on as a nineteenth-century champion of social reform. He died on May 7, 1873.

Product Details

• Paperback: 891 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books (March 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591021510
• ISBN-13: 978-1591021513
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #761,935 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some Missing Details, February 3, 2009

By 

Jessica (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Principles of Political Economy (Great Minds Series) (Paperback)

Mill is the great synthesis of nineteenth-century economics. The Principles are tedious at times, but provide a generally illuminating account of the ways nineteenth-century citizens reconciled themselves to an increasingly quantified world. Mill engages usefully with most major economic theories of his time, including inheritance rights, speculation, taxation, and the well-being of the working class.

If you're using this edition for a historical or otherwise scholarly project, please be aware that it's based on the 1865, rather than 1848, edition. Some of Mill's revisions are substantial.

1.0 out of 5 stars This book is abridged!, March 11, 2011

By 

Grant McCracken - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Principles Of Political Economy (Kindle Edition)

This is outrageous. It turns out this book is abridged. Isn't this the sort of thing you think the reader might want to know before buying? How perfectly moronic.

7 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Hobo Philosopher, September 13, 2007

By 

Richard E. Noble (Florida Panhandle) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Principles of Political Economy (Great Minds Series) (Paperback)

This is a very good and very pertinent book. If the people of the time had paid more attention to Mill as opposed to Ricardo and then Marx our world would definitely have been a safer and more peaceful place. Mill has some very sound economic ideas. His ideas are not only reasonable and rational they are possible, compassionate and much more sensible than what we have today; ideas that should be revived and reviewed today. He has a number of interesting answers to basic economic problems. If economics is your passion don't miss this one. This man is no dummy.

Richard Edward Noble - The Hobo Philosopher - Author of:

"Hobo-ing America: A Workingman's Tour of the U.S.A.."