Introduction

Abstract

Until quite recently, John Stuart Mill’s final dozen years and his association with the last classical economists have received comparatively little attention. The ambivalence of a son and the infatuation of a lover no doubt have more entertainment value than a series of highminded and mutually instructive friendships. The comings and goings of a ‘saint of rationalism’ - even, or especially, a very busy and worldly one - are not likely to make a particularly beguiling saga. And although nearly everyone professes to admire the gallant defenders of a losing cause, the heroics of the final exponents of a superannuated system of economic thought, especially one widely perceived as doctrinaire and insensitive, do not promise to make a very inspiring epic.