On Socialism

In the mid-nineteenth century Mill turned his sharp analytic eye toward the issues raised by social critics such as Robert Owen, Saint-Simon, and others. These early socialists sought to reform, if not render extinct, the capitalism that they believed had wrought social upheaval and discontent. In several preliminary chapters, prepared as a prelude to a full-blown critique of nineteenth-century socialism, Mill seeks to understand the thrust of socialist theory and to appraise the impact of ...