第40章

’Responsibility，’indeed，alwaysimpliesliberty——theexistenceofaspherewithinwhichaman’sfortunesdependuponhispersonalcharacter，andhischaractershoulddeterminehisfortune。But，asMillcanmostclearlyrecognise，socialresponsibilitymeanssomethingmore。Onemost’certainincident’

ofsocialprogressisthegrowthofco-operation，andthatinvolves，ashesays，the’subordinationofindividualcaprice’

toa’preconceiveddetermination’andtheperformanceofpartsallottedina’combinedundertaking。’(25*)Theindividual，then，ispartofanorganisation，inwhicheveryindividualshouldplayhispart。Theover-centralisationwhichwouldcrushhimintoanautomatonisnotmorefatalthantheindividualindependencewhichwouldbeincompatiblewithorganisation。Thedesirable’responsibility’isnotthatofaRobinsonCrusoebutthatofthesoldierinanarmy。Itshouldbeenforcedbyothermotivesthanmereself-interest，foritaffectstheinterestsofthewholebodycorporate。NowMill，believingeventoexcessinthepowerofeducation，includedineducationthewholedisciplineoflifeduetotherelationsoftheindividualtohissocialenvironment；

anditishisessentialprinciplethatthisforceshouldbedirectedtoenforcingasenseof’responsibility’inthewidestacceptationoftheword。

V。POLITICALAPPLICATION

Asimilardoctrineisimpliedinhispoliticalwritings，ofwhichtheRepresentativeGovernmentisthemostexplicit。Thebookishardlyonalevelwithhisbestwork。Treatisesof’politicalphilosophy’aregenerallydisappointing。Thedifficultylies，Isuppose，incombiningthepracticalwiththegeneralpointofview。Insometreatises，the’philosophy’ismadeupofsuchscrapsaboutthesocialcontractormixtureofthethreeformsofgovernmentasexcitedBentham’scontemptinBlackstone’streatise。Theyareamerejuggleofabstractionsfitonlyforschoolboys。Others，likeJamesMill’s，arereallypartypamphlets，masqueradingasphilosophy，andimportingobviousprinciplesintothelikenessofgeometricalaxioms。Agooddealofwisdomnodoubtlurksinthespeechesofstatesmen；butitisnotofteneasytoextricateitfromthemassofpersonalandpracticalremarks。Mill’streatisemightsuggestsomesuchcriticism；andyetitisinterestingasanindicationofhisleadingprinciples。Somepassagesshowhowlongexperienceinapublicofficeaffectsaphilosophicthinker。Mill’sexposition，forexample，ofthedefectsoftheHouseofCommonsinadministrativelegislation，(26*)hisdiscussionofthefact(ashetakesittobe)thatgovernmentsremarkableforsustainedvigourandabilityhavegenerallybeenaristocratic，(27*)andhispanegyricupontheEastIndiaCompany，(28*)recordthegenuineimpressionsofhislongadministrativecareer，andarerefreshinginthemidstofmoreabstractdiscussions。Ihave，however，onlytonoticeageneralprinciplewhichrunsthroughthebook。

MillstartsbyemphasisingthedistinctionappliedinthePoliticalEconomybetweenthenaturalandtheartificial。

Politicalinstitutionsaretheworkofmenandcreatedbythewill。Thedoctrinethatgovernments’arenotmade，butgrow，’

wouldleadto’politicalfatalism’ifitwereregardedastrueexclusivelyoftheother。Infact，wemightreply，thereisnorealoppositionatall。’Making’isbutonekindof’growing。’

Growingbyconsciousforethoughtisstillgrowing，andtheantithesisputabsolutelyisdeceptive。Millisstrivingtoenlargethesphereofvoluntaryaction。Hewishestoprovethathecantakethegroundgenerallysupposedtoimplythedoctrineof’freewill。’Institutions，hefullyadmits，presupposecertainqualitiesinthepeople；but，giventhosequalities，theyare’amatterofchoice。’(29*)Inpolitics，asinmachinery，weareturningexistingpowerstoaccount；butwedonotsaythat，becauseriverswillnotrunuphill，’water-millsarenotmadebutgrow。’Thepoliticaltheoristcaninven