Liberty, Equality, Fraternity

James Fitzjames Stephens argues against the philosophical and social views advanced by John Stuart Mill: for the author, Mill’s ideas of equality, utilitarianism and freedom were anathema.

The attitudes expressed by Stephens were unpopular at the time of publication: his arguments against the notions of democracy and freedom are rooted in traditionalism, in a time of great – and arguably irreversible - upheaval. Many of the criticisms against liberty, in particular its deleterious potential upon morals, accurately predict the liberalization of Western societies during the 20th century. Stephens other opinions, such as his opposition to women’s rights, have been firmly consigned to history.

While Stephens, and other thinkers like him, would fall out of favor, this work provides a stunning summation of contrarian arguments. Stephens was a conservatively-minded member of the British judiciary whose views closely correspond with elements of old-fashioned Toryism. In life he used his gifts of lucid speech to rewrite and update elements of both criminal and commercial law in colonial India and on the British Isles.