2025/09/22 by Sven Ove Hansson · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #American Constitutional Law and Politics #Political Philosophy and Ethics #Political Theory and Influence
paper · doi:10.1080/09672567.2025.2509530
openalex publication_date 2025/09/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/15
Although John Stuart Mill provided no systematic account of equality, there is extensive textual evidence in his writings of an overarching egalitarian standpoint, which he applied consistently in a wide variety of contexts. Mill had a strong belief in the equal inborn capacities of all human beings. He was convinced that a more equal society could and should be realised, but it required a general moral improvement that would be a slow and gradual process. The major limitation on short-term egalitarian reforms was, in modern terminology, that they should not disrupt the incentives needed to keep the economy going.