James Mill (1773–1836), along with Jeremy Bentham, was one of the founders of the utilitarian social theories that came to dominate British, and to a lesser extent American, social thought during the 19th century. Though less influential than his close friend Bentham, and philosophically much less important than his son John Stuart Mill, James Mill’s writings were probably more accessible than those of the other early founders. In particular he wrote more directly about political theory than did Bentham.
He advocated an extension of electoral democracy rather before this became generally accepted among even radical middle class intellectuals. His theory of democ-racy was somewhat limited, however, because his distrust of the working class was almost as profound as his contempt for the traditional aristocracy. In a very Aristotelian manner he supported the extra influence for the middle classes, whom he saw as naturally balancing all interests in the state. In many ways he was a brilliant propagandist for selling utilitarian ideals to the rising professional and commercial bourgeoisie, rather than an original or creative developer of utilitarianism.
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