James Mill on Periodical Literature (II)

In another article on periodical literature for the Westminster Review,* the Scottish radical James Mill (1777-1836) turned his attention to the Quarterly Review, the most authoritative Tory publication. Whereas the Edinburgh Review, with its Whig politics, employed what Mill called the see-saw - in the main supporting the aristocracy, but sometimes making common cause with … Continue reading James Mill on Periodical Literature (II) →

Jeremy Bentham and George Grote on Natural Religion (Part II)

This is a continuation of my notes on Bentham and Grote's Analysis of the Influence of Natural Religion Upon the Temporal Happiness of Mankind (1822). Part II discusses the discrete harms natural religion causes to the individual and society. Part II - Catalogue of the various modes in which natural religion is mischievous. Chapter 1 … Continue reading Jeremy Bentham and George Grote on Natural Religion (Part II) →

Jeremy Bentham and George Grote on Natural Religion (Part I)

The English philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), now best known as a proponent of utilitarianism, wrote on a variety of social and political subjects including religion. George Grote (1794-1871), besides his fame as a historian of ancient Greece, was an English radical in the same tradition as Bentham. Together these thinkers produced a book called Analysis … Continue reading Jeremy Bentham and George Grote on Natural Religion (Part I) →

James Mill on Periodical Literature

James Mill (1777-1836), perhaps now best known as the father of John Stuart Mill, was a Scottish radical and a follower and populariser of the thought of Jeremy Bentham.1 In 1823, Bentham's disciples established the Westminster Review, a quarterly periodical, to spread the ideas of philosophic radicalism. Mill contributed an article titled 'Periodical Literature' to … Continue reading James Mill on Periodical Literature →

Some words from Tom Paine

On accepting a knighthood: Titles are but nick-names, and every nick-name is a title. The thing is perfectly harmless in itself; but it marks a sort of foppery in the human character, which degrades it. It reduces man into the diminutive of man in things which are great, and the counterfeit of woman in things … Continue reading Some words from Tom Paine →

Churchill and Peace with Germany

Part three of a response to Andrew Roberts and Zewditu Gebreyohanes Roberts and Gebreyohanes write that ‘[t]here were plenty of senior figures in the British government who were willing to countenance making peace with Hitler in 1940, but Churchill was not.’ This is inaccurate. Churchill was opposed to the idea of Italian mediation, supported by … Continue reading Churchill and Peace with Germany →

Churchill and the Nazis

Part two of a response to Andrew Roberts and Zewditu Gebreyohanes Roberts and Gebreyohanes write that Churchill had a ‘dogged determination to defeat the Nazis, the threat from whom he had been warning against for almost a decade’. This is a misleading characterisation of Churchill’s understanding of the Nazi movement. Churchill indeed warned against the … Continue reading Churchill and the Nazis →

How Sir Martin Gilbert Fudged the Facts to Protect his Hero

I. Sir Martin Gilbert was Churchill’s official biographer, and evidently enamoured of his subject: ‘I never felt that he [Churchill] was going to spring an unpleasant surprise on me. I might find that he was adopting views with which I disagreed. But I always knew that there would be nothing to cause me to think: … Continue reading How Sir Martin Gilbert Fudged the Facts to Protect his Hero →

Churchill’s Prejudices

Many people today are aware of Winston Churchill’s low opinion of Africans, Indians and Arabs. Somewhat less known are his negative opinions of a number of Jews. In 1920 an article by Churchill appeared in the Illustrated Sunday Herald, titled ‘Zionism versus Bolshevism’. In it he expressed his belief that patriotic ‘national Jews’ could be … Continue reading Churchill’s Prejudices →

A Regius Professor at Oxford Considers African History

Hugh Trevor-Roper was Regius Professor of History at Oxford 1957-1980, and Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge 1980-1987. In a 1965 book, The Rise of Christian Europe, Trevor-Roper observed that ‘[u]ndergraduates, seduced, as always, by the changing breath of journalistic fashion’ wanted to be ‘taught the history of Africa’. Of course, those foolish, trendy undergraduates had made … Continue reading A Regius Professor at Oxford Considers African History →