Mill and Tocqueville: a friendship bruised. Issue 1 (2nd January 2016)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Mill and Tocqueville: a friendship bruised. Issue 1 (2nd January 2016)
- Main Title:
- Mill and Tocqueville: a friendship bruised
- Authors:
- Suh, Byung-Hoon
- Abstract:
- SUMMARY: Having first met in 1835, John Stuart Mill and Alexis de Tocqueville began 'an extremely interesting and mutually laudatory correspondence'; but their splendid friendship did not last. A popular thesis focuses on letters exchanged in 1840 to 1842 that reflect conflicting views on the Eastern Question and argues that Mill initiated the 'strange interruption'. Given Mill's commitment to the 'agreement of conviction and feeling on the few cardinal points of human opinion' as a prerequisite of genuine friendship, such interpretation sounds plausible. However, circumstantial evidence, most notably Mill's willingness to have a frank discussion with Tocqueville on pending issues, contradicts the assertion that Mill was enraged by Tocqueville's 1841 letter. This essay suggests focusing attention on two additional cardinal differences between them—their contrasting views of François Guizot and confrontation vis-à-vis benevolent imperialism. Moreover, personal matters such as Harriet Taylor's dislike of Tocqueville and Mill's departure from the London and Westminster Review are also believed to have largely led to Mill discontinuing correspondence with Tocqueville.
- Is Part Of:
- History of European ideas. Volume 42:Issue 1(2016)
- Journal:
- History of European ideas
- Issue:
- Volume 42:Issue 1(2016)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 42, Issue 1 (2016)
- Year:
- 2016
- Volume:
- 42
- Issue:
- 1
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2016-0042-0001-0000
- Page Start:
- 55
- Page End:
- 72
- Publication Date:
- 2016-01-02
- Subjects:
- John Stuart Mill -- Alexis de Tocqueville -- Eastern question -- François Guizot -- benevolent imperialism -- Harriet Taylor
Europe -- Intellectual life -- Periodicals
Europe -- History -- Periodicals
190.5 - Journal URLs:
- http://www.tandfonline.com/ ↗
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rhei20/current ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1080/01916599.2015.1077151 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 0191-6599
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 4318.138000
British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 69.xml