Did John Stuart Mill Write ‘On Social Freedom’?
During his final years, John Stuart Mill reportedly attempted to update the argument of <i>On Liberty</i> (1859). Published posthumously in 1907, ‘<i>On Social Freedom</i>’ represents the initial, unrefined draft of his reworked ideas. This article argues that John Stuart Mil...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Humanities |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/12/5/123 |
| _version_ | 1797626716364996608 |
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| author | Antis Loizides Andreas Neocleous Panagiotis Nicolaides |
| author_facet | Antis Loizides Andreas Neocleous Panagiotis Nicolaides |
| author_sort | Antis Loizides |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | During his final years, John Stuart Mill reportedly attempted to update the argument of <i>On Liberty</i> (1859). Published posthumously in 1907, ‘<i>On Social Freedom</i>’ represents the initial, unrefined draft of his reworked ideas. This article argues that John Stuart Mill was not the author of ‘<i>On Social Freedom</i>’. First, we revisit the question of the essay’s authorship traditionally: the emphasis is on the essay’s content and the historical context of the mid-twentieth-century debate on Mill as its author. We trace the disagreement to two broad reactions to Mill’s thought. Ultimately, the question of whether the manuscript’s substantial divergence from J. S. Mill’s renowned works is enough to refute his authorship depends on one’s interpretation of Mill as a systematic philosopher. Second, we tackle this task non-traditionally: the focus shifts to the tools of computer-assisted authorship identification and the use of machine learning (ML) techniques. Once we establish some key ideas, methods, and limitations of this field of studies, we present our attempts at a computer-assisted solution to the puzzle. The results of our experiments, using ML techniques, corroborate the conclusions reached via the traditional route. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T10:14:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cf83aff7bbe4425caa58861719df653c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0787 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T10:14:09Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Humanities |
| spelling | doaj.art-cf83aff7bbe4425caa58861719df653c2023-11-16T10:30:10ZengMDPI AGHumanities2076-07872023-10-0112512310.3390/h12050123Did John Stuart Mill Write ‘On Social Freedom’?Antis Loizides0Andreas Neocleous1Panagiotis Nicolaides2Department of Social and Political Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences and Education, University of Cyprus, Nicosia 2109, CyprusDepartment of Social and Political Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences and Education, University of Cyprus, Nicosia 2109, CyprusDepartment of Social and Political Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences and Education, University of Cyprus, Nicosia 2109, CyprusDuring his final years, John Stuart Mill reportedly attempted to update the argument of <i>On Liberty</i> (1859). Published posthumously in 1907, ‘<i>On Social Freedom</i>’ represents the initial, unrefined draft of his reworked ideas. This article argues that John Stuart Mill was not the author of ‘<i>On Social Freedom</i>’. First, we revisit the question of the essay’s authorship traditionally: the emphasis is on the essay’s content and the historical context of the mid-twentieth-century debate on Mill as its author. We trace the disagreement to two broad reactions to Mill’s thought. Ultimately, the question of whether the manuscript’s substantial divergence from J. S. Mill’s renowned works is enough to refute his authorship depends on one’s interpretation of Mill as a systematic philosopher. Second, we tackle this task non-traditionally: the focus shifts to the tools of computer-assisted authorship identification and the use of machine learning (ML) techniques. Once we establish some key ideas, methods, and limitations of this field of studies, we present our attempts at a computer-assisted solution to the puzzle. The results of our experiments, using ML techniques, corroborate the conclusions reached via the traditional route.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/12/5/123John Stuart Mill<i>On Liberty</i>authorship analysistraditional and revisionist interpretations |
| spellingShingle | Antis Loizides Andreas Neocleous Panagiotis Nicolaides Did John Stuart Mill Write ‘On Social Freedom’? Humanities John Stuart Mill <i>On Liberty</i> authorship analysis traditional and revisionist interpretations |
| title | Did John Stuart Mill Write ‘On Social Freedom’? |
| title_full | Did John Stuart Mill Write ‘On Social Freedom’? |
| title_fullStr | Did John Stuart Mill Write ‘On Social Freedom’? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Did John Stuart Mill Write ‘On Social Freedom’? |
| title_short | Did John Stuart Mill Write ‘On Social Freedom’? |
| title_sort | did john stuart mill write on social freedom |
| topic | John Stuart Mill <i>On Liberty</i> authorship analysis traditional and revisionist interpretations |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/12/5/123 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT antisloizides didjohnstuartmillwriteonsocialfreedom AT andreasneocleous didjohnstuartmillwriteonsocialfreedom AT panagiotisnicolaides didjohnstuartmillwriteonsocialfreedom |