Book Reviews : Authority and the Individual. By BERTRAND RUSSELL. (New York: Simon and Schuster. 1949. Pp. 79. $2.00.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591295100400315
• Date: 01 September 1951
• Author: Charles R. Nixon
• Published date: 01 September 1951
• Subject Matter: Articles

497
important. The major assumptions of the key figures, their inconsisten-
cies, and the difficulties in their arguments are laid bare in clear and sys-
tematic form.
’
Separate chapters are given to the thought of Hume, Bentham, James
Mill, and John Stuart Mill, though the discussion also covers a dozen
lesser figures whose contributions to and variations on the theory are
sharply summarized. In the philosophical development of utilitarianism,
Hume and John Stuart Mill stand out as the most important figures.
Hume stands first because his thinking sets out the moral and political
philosophy on which the work of the reformers, Bentham and James Mill,
was based. John Stuart Mill stands second because by his refusal to stay
within the narrow confines of the theory as presented by his father, he
illustrates its difficulties of the doctrine, even when trying hardest to de-
fend it. It is for this reason that Mill’s essay Utilitarianism is reprinted in
this volume for, as Plamenatz remarks: &dquo;There is little to be gained by
unraveling the tangled threads of Bentham’s fundamental arguments.
But the case with Mill is different; the study of his confusions and errors
is nearly always profitable&dquo; (p. 144).
Plamenatz’ study is an excellent example of closely written yet stimu-
lating philosophical analysis, and will be a valuable aid to students seek-
ing to unravel the threads of utilitarian moral and political theory.
CHARLES R. NIXON.
University of California, Los Angeles.
Authority and the Individual. By BERTRAND RUSSELL. (New York: Simon
and Schuster. 1949. Pp. 79. $2.00.)
’
This slim volume contains the Reith Lectures delivered by Bertrand
Russell over the BBC. Reading it, one is reminded that nearly a century
ago another Englishman, John Stuart Mill, in his essay On Liberty ad-
dressed his countrymen on essentially the same problem-how to preserve
a large sphere of individual initiative and creative effort in the face of the
powerful pressure for regulation...