Title page from Articles in the Supplement to the Encyclopedia Britannica (1825)

Articles in the Supplement to the Encyclopedia Britannica (1825)

James Mill wrote a number of influential articles for the Encyclopedia Britannica in which he developed the Philosophic Radical view on law, government, education, colonies, and other topcis.

Key Quotes

Origin of Government

“Of the laws of nature, on which the condition of man depends, that which is attended with the greatest number of consequences, is the necessity of labour for obtaining the means of subsistence, as well as the means of the greatest part of our pleasures. This is, no doubt, the primary cause of…

Women’s Rights

One thing is pretty clear, that all those individuals whose interests are indisputably included in those of other individuals, may be struck off without inconvenience. In this light may be viewed all children, up to a certain age, whose interests are involved in those of their parents. In this…

Origin of Government

Whenever the powers of government are placed in any hands other than those of the community, whether those of one man, of a few, or of several, those principles of human nature which imply that government is at all necessary, imply that these persons will make use of them to defeat the very end for…