Book Proposal for Broadview Press

Book Title: John Stuart Mill's “On Liberty” and Other Essays, to be part of the Broadview
Editions Series.
Description of the Project: This project is meant to collect in a single volume all of the material
that is needed to engage deeply and profitably with John Stuart Mill's On Liberty. In
particular, this book will include not only the complete text of Mill's On Liberty but also:
(1) Two complete supporting works by Mill
(2) A wide range of selections from other supporting works by Mill
(3) Selections from several works by other authors
(4) A scholarly introduction, summarizing Mill's On Liberty and its connections with the
other selections in this volume.
(5) A bibliography, study questions, and comprehensive index as well as a chronological
outline of Mill's life.
Rationale for the Project: While there are many editions of On Liberty currently in print,
(including one published by Broadview), there are no stand-alone collections which include a
scholarly introduction, supporting works by Mill and figures who influenced Mill's thinking on
liberty and similar topics, study questions, and an up-to-date bibliography of primary and
secondary works, along with a comprehensive index. Though there are collections on the
market that have some of these features, there are none that combine all of them. (To get a
better idea of the precise state of the market, please see the attached spreadsheet.) As a
result, anyone who wishes to teach or study On Liberty while placing it in the context of Mill's
larger philosophy as well as its wider historical context is forced to buy a number of expensive
and hard-to-find works in addition to Mill's text – or simply to give up on the idea altogether.
This project will put an end to that unfortunate situation.
Table of Contents:
Editor's Introduction
Main Text
On Liberty (1859)
Supplementary Text - Mill
“The Spirit of the Age” (1831)
“A Few Words on Non-Intervention” (1859)
From On Utilitarianism, selections from chapters 2 and 5 (1861)
From The Subjection of Women, selections from chapter 4 (1869)
From Autobiography of John Stuart Mill, selections from chapters 5, 6, and 7
(1873)
From “The Utility of Religion” (1874)
Supplementary Texts - Others
Selections from A Fragment on Government by Jeremy Bentham (1776)
Selections from Liberty of the Press by James Mill (1825)
Selections from Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville (1835-40),
translated by Henry Reeve (1863)
Selections from Equitable Commerce by Josiah Warren (1846)
Selections from The Sphere and Duties of Government by Wilhelm von
Book Proposal: Mill's “On Liberty” and Other Writings Draft: 02/17/10

Humbolt (1851), translated by J. Clouthard (1854)

Selections from The Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte by Auguste Comte
(1853), translated by Harriet Martineau (1855)
List of Further Readings: Primary Sources
List of Further Readings: Secondary Sources
Study Questions
For Mill's On Liberty
For the supplementary texts by Mill
For the supplementary texts by others
Chronological Outline of Mill's Life
Comprehensive Index

Markets for the Project: The main markets for this book will be North America, Great Britain,
Ireland, and Australasia. The target audience will be students in undergraduate and graduate
courses in philosophy departments on ethical theory, political philosophy, and philosophy of
law as well as courses on the history of 19th century philosophy. These courses are regularly
taught in all four geographical areas, especially North America, and many sections have large
enrollments.
The book could be promoted at meetings of the American Philosophical Association,
the Canadian Philosophical Association, the Australian Association of Philosophy, and the
Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society and the Mind Association, as well as at meetings of
the International Society for Utilitarian Studies (which will next convene in 2011). This edition
will also appeal to those in courses outside philosophy departments, e.g., in departments of
political science teaching the history of political theory and in departments of history teaching
intellectual history of modern Europe. Finally, this edition would be of value to non-academic
readers who wish to understand Mill's thinking about liberty but wish to go more deeply into
the material than they would be able to if they bought, say, Broadview's stand-alone edition of
Mill's On Liberty. It could, therefore, be marketed to large retailers in the U.S. such as
Borders or Barnes & Noble.
Based on the prices of roughly similar Broadview Editions, I think that this volume
could sell for roughly $10 USD, especially since all of the texts (including the translations,
which would have been familiar to Mill's contemporaries and, in some cases, Mill himself) are
now in the public domain. Hence, this Broadview Edition would have a price advantage over
rivals that would be far less useful (as explained below).1
Competing Books: The competing works that most closely resemble this volume are as
follows:
• “On Liberty” and Other Essays, edited by Stephan Collini, Cambridge University Press.
This volume contains The Subjection of Women and the Chapters on Socialism but
lacks much relevant original material, including “The Spirit of the Age,” “A Few Words
on Intervention,” “The Autobiography,” and sections from Utilitarianism. It also lacks
any supporting texts by Mill's contemporaries. It does have a scholarly introduction
and bibliography, but both are more than 20 years old and are badly out-of-date. It
1 All pricing information is taken from <amazon.com>, as of 2/17.

Page 2
Book Proposal: Mill's “On Liberty” and Other Writings Draft: 02/17/10

does not have study questions. Priced at $12.47 it is more expensive than the
anticipated price of the Broadview edition.
• Mill: “The Spirit of the Age,” “On Liberty,” “the Subjection of Women,” edited by Alan
Ryan, Norton. This volume does not have “A Few Words on Intervention,” “The
Autobiography,” and sections from Utilitarianism. It also lacks any supporting texts by
Mill's contemporaries. Ryan's introduction is almost 15 years old, as is its bibliography.
It does not have study questions. It currently sells for $11.25, more than the
anticipated price of the Broadview edition.
• “On Liberty” and Other Essays, Oxford University Press (Oxford World Classics).
Despite its title, this book is closer to an all-in-one collection than a book devoted to
“On Liberty.” It does contain the complete texts of “Utilitarianism,” “The Subjection of
Women,” and “Representative Government.” However, it lacks “The Spirit of the Age,”
“A Few Words on Intervention,” “Autobiography,” or passages from the
“Autobiography.” It does not include any supporting documents from Mill's influences.
The Introduction and Bibliography are almost 20 years old, and there are no study
questions included.
• “Utilitarianism and On Liberty,” edited by Mary Warnock, Blackwell Press. Though the
Blackwell volume contains all of Utilitarianism as well as Mill's “Essay on Bentham,” it
does not have “The Spirit of the Age,” “A Few Words on Intervention,” “Autobiography,”
or passages from the “Autobiography” or The Subjection of Women. It also lacks any
supporting texts by Mill's contemporaries. This volume does have an interesting
introduction by Warnock, but it was written in 1988 and is somewhat out-of-date, as is
the bibliography.
Complementary Books: There are a wide-variety of excellent companion texts, including the
following:
• Primary Sources: A number of primary texts from the Broadview Editions Series would
be useful companions. These include Mill's own The Subjection of Women,
Utilitarianism, and Three Essays on Religion (edited by Lou Matz). Other Broadview
Editions that might be of use as complementary works in the same class include
Immanuel Kant's Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals (edited by Lara Denis) and
Mary Wollstonecraft's The Vindications: The Rights of Men and the Rights of Women
(edited by D.L. Macdonald and Kathleen Scherf), as well as forthcoming editions by
Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and David Hume.
• Secondary Sources:
◦ Books specific to On Liberty:
▪ J.S. Mill's “On Liberty” in Focus, edited by John Gray and G.W. Smith,
Routledge (Philosophers in Focus Series).
▪ The Routledge Guidebook to Mill's “On Liberty,” by Jonathan Riley, Routledge
Press.
▪ Mill's “On Liberty”: A Reader's Guide, by Geoffrey Scarre, Continuum Press

Page 3
Book Proposal: Mill's “On Liberty” and Other Writings Draft: 02/17/10

(Reader's Guide Series).

▪ Mill on Liberty: A Critical Guide, by C.L. Ten, Cambridge University Press
(Cambridge Critical Guides).
◦ More general books:
▪ Happiness, Justice, and Freedom: The Moral and Political Philosophy of J.S.
Mill, by Fred Berger, University of California Press.
▪ Mill, by Wendy Donner and Richard Fummerton, Blackwell Press (Great Mind
Series)
▪ J. S. Mill, by Dale Miller, Polity Press (Classic Thinkers Series)
▪ Taking Account of Utilitarianism, by William Shaw. Blackwell (Contemporary
Ethics Series).
▪ The Cambridge Companion to Mill, edited by John Skorupski, Cambridge
University Press.
▪ Mill, by John Skorupski, Routledge Press (Arguments of the Philosophers
Series)
Date of Completion: February, 2011
Total Length: 300 pages

Leonard Kahn
Assistant Professor
Department of Philosophy
United States Air Force Academy
2354 Fairchild Drive
USAF Academy, Colorado 80840-6256
(719) 338-6791

Page 4