Quotation
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“The legal subordination of one sex to the other is wrong in itself, and now one of the chief hindrances to human improvement.”
John Stuart Mill · Liberalism · Modern · 1869
What does it mean?
The legal subordination of one sex to the other is, Mill says, wrong in itself, and it blocks human improvement for everyone, not only for the people it directly constrains. Custom had been treated as nature. A rival reading says the 'in itself' abandons utility: a consistent utilitarian would call the subordination wrong only if it fails the happiness test, not before the test is run. He thinks the unhappiness and the injustice coincide, and that we have never tried equality, so appeals to 'what women are like' under subordination cannot justify it.
Did John Stuart Mill really say this?
The library’s label is Well attested. Mill's English, the book's opening claim. He says the work was shaped with Harriet Taylor Mill, and that many of its ideas were hers. The published sentence is in his name.
Where it comes from
The Subjection of Women, chapter 1
Approximate date: 1869.
How to use it
A firm in Manchester still routes the client dinner through the men and calls it practical. His test does not ask you to be patient with the practice. It says the burden of proof is on the rule, not on the person who objects to being the default subordinate.
A mindset reading
What looks like nature is often law and upbringing. The feeling that a hierarchy is obvious is not evidence. That is the methodological point of the opening, and it is easy to nod at while leaving the rota unchanged.
Understand the philosophy
The Subjection of Women argues from liberty and from utility together. Chapter 1 states the principle. The later chapters take marriage, education, and the vote as the places where the principle either bites or is merely admired.
- justice
- freedom
- society
FAQ
What does it mean?
The legal subordination of one sex to the other is, Mill says, wrong in itself, and it blocks human improvement for everyone, not only for the people it directly constrains. Custom had been treated as nature. A rival reading says the 'in itself' abandons utility: a consistent utilitarian would call the subordination wrong only if it fails the happiness test, not before the test is run. He thinks the unhappiness and the injustice coincide, and that we have never tried equality, so appeals to 'what women are like' under subordination cannot justify it.
Did John Stuart Mill really say this?
Well attested. Mill's English, the book's opening claim. He says the work was shaped with Harriet Taylor Mill, and that many of its ideas were hers. The published sentence is in his name.
Which work is it in?
The Subjection of Women, chapter 1 Approximate date: 1869.