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John Millar on Liberty and Equality

John Millar was a member of the Scottish Enlightenment who developed many of the ideas of Adam Smith and David Hume. This reading list is designed to explore his ideas on liberty, equality, and social change, especially as society develops or “progresses” to a more advanced economic stage. A key aspect is the idea that violence gradually disappears as society becomes more “polished” and commercial. This has an effect on relations between father and child, husband and wife, and master and slave, with the latter relationship gradually disappearing completely.

For further reading see:

• John Millar (1735-1801)
• David Hume (1711-1776)
• Adam Smith (1723-1790)
• The Scottish Enlightenment

• Session I: The Condition of Women

  John Millar, The Origin of the Distinction of Ranks; or, An Inquiry into the Circumstances which give rise to Influence and Authority in the Different Members of Society, edited and with an Introduction by Aaron Garrett (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2006). Chapter: CHAPTER I: Of the Rank and Condition of Women in Different Ages

  Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/287/52360 on 2008-08-20

• Session II: Parental Authority

  John Millar, The Origin of the Distinction of Ranks; or, An Inquiry into the Circumstances which give rise to Influence and Authority in the Different Members of Society, edited and with an Introduction by Aaron Garrett (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2006). Chapter: CHAPTER II: Of the Jurisdiction and Authority of a Father over His Children

  Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/287/52374 on 2008-08-20

• Session III: The Authority of Chiefs

  John Millar, The Origin of the Distinction of Ranks; or, An Inquiry into the Circumstances which give rise to Influence and Authority in the Different Members of Society, edited and with an Introduction by Aaron Garrett (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2006). Chapter: CHAPTER III: The Authority of a Chief over the Members of a Tribe or Village

  Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/287/52380 on 2008-08-20

• Session IV: Political Authority

  John Millar, The Origin of the Distinction of Ranks; or, An Inquiry into the Circumstances which give rise to Influence and Authority in the Different Members of Society, edited and with an Introduction by Aaron Garrett (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2006). Chapter: CHAPTER IV: The Authority of a Sovereign, and of Subordinate Officers, over a Society Composed of Different Tribes or Villages

  Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/287/52386 on 2008-08-20

• Session V Reading 1: Millar on Progress and Government

  In this and the next reading by Hume, we would like to compare Millar’s and Hume’s accounts of the relationship between the rise of science, arts, manners, and liberty.

  John Millar, The Origin of the Distinction of Ranks; or, An Inquiry into the Circumstances which give rise to Influence and Authority in the Different Members of Society, edited and with an Introduction by Aaron Garrett (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2006). Chapter: CHAPTER V: The Changes Produced in the Government of a People, by Their Progress in Arts, and in Polished Manners

  Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/287/52392 on 2008-08-20

• Session V Reading 2: Hume on Progress and Government

  David Hume, Essays Moral, Political, Literary, edited and with a Foreword, Notes, and Glossary by Eugene F. Miller, with an appendix of variant readings from the 1889 edition by T.H. Green and T.H. Grose, revised edition (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund 1987). Chapter: ESSAY XIV: OF THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE ARTS AND SCIENCES

  Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/704/137504 on 2008-08-20

• Session VI Reading 1: Millar on Masters and Slaves

  In this and the next reading by Smith, we would like to compare Millar’s and Smith’s accounts of the improvement in the condition of servants and the abolition of slavery as economies expand and develop.

  John Millar, The Origin of the Distinction of Ranks; or, An Inquiry into the Circumstances which give rise to Influence and Authority in the Different Members of Society, edited and with an Introduction by Aaron Garrett (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2006). Chapter: CHAPTER VI: The Authority of a Master over His Servants

  Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/287/52400 on 2008-08-20

• Session VI Reading 2: Smith on Masters and Slaves

  Adam Smith, An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Vol. I ed. R. H. Campbell and A. S. Skinner, vol. II of the Glasgow Edition of the Works and Correspondence of Adam Smith (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1981). Chapter: CHAPTER II: Of the Discouragement of Agriculture in the antient State of Europe after the Fall of the Roman Empire 1

  Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/220/111899 on 2008-08-20