Utilitarianism and Empire

by Bart Schultz (Editor), H S. Jones (Contributor), Javed Majeed (Contributor)

The classical utilitarian legacy of Jeremy Bentham, J. S. Mill, James Mill, and Henry Sidgwick has often been charged with both theoretical and practical complicity in the growth of British imperialism and the emerging racialist discourse of the nineteenth century. But there has been little scholarly work devoted to bringing together the conflicting interpretive perspectives on this legacy and its complex evolution with respect to orientalism and imperialism. This volume, with contributions by leading scholars in the field, represents the first attempt to survey the full range of current scholarly controversy on how the classical utilitarians conceived of 'race' and the part it played in their ethical and political programs, particularly with respect to such issues as slavery and the governance of India. The book both advances our understanding of the history of utilitarianism and imperialism and promotes the scholarly debate, clarifying the major points at issue between those sympathetic to the utilitarian legacy and those critical of it.

Genres: Philosophy

274 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Bart Schultz is a senior lecturer in humanities and director of the Civic Knowledge Project at the University of Chicago. He is the author of many works, including Henry Sidgwick: Eye of the Universe.

Reviews

[Ollie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good and interesting volume. All the essays on Bentham are valuable. The essay on James Mill is a stand-out. Quality begins to slip with JS Mill. The essay by Nussbaum, though characteristically well put, happily paves over all troubles with Mill's relationship to imperialism in order to not so subtly nudge the reader towards Nussbaum's own capabilities approach. Neither Goldberg's essay criticising Mill nor Varouxakis's essay defending Mill convince. The former is light on the textual work and makes some inapt modern-day comparisons; and the latter is so neurotic in its defense of Mill in the face of Mill's obvious approval of British colonialism that it teeters at the edge of defending that colonialism itself. The essay on the Eyre affair was a return to form. "Imagining Darwinism" and Schultz's "Sidgwick's Racism" are both worthwhile.