Mill'sThe Subjection of Women: The Methodological Limits of Liberal Feminism

Abstract

John Stuart Mill's commitment to empirically based inductive logic shapes the political substance of his theory, limiting his ability effectively to make the argument he wishes to make. The Subjection of Women is presented as a test case in which Mill wishes to argue for the justice and utility of the emancipation of women. His efforts are thwarted by his inability to argue from anything but an empirical basis, grounding his evidence in historical data which serve both to stereotype women's "good" qualities and to judge women's potential by what is observable from an admittedly unjust history.The essay reviews respected feminist analyses of Mill with an eye to establishing the natures and limitations of the various perspectives. It briefly discusses Mill's System of Logic which provides a detailed example, in pure form, of the methodological problems he faces in the Subjection. The essay then considers the method and content of The Subjection of Women, arguing that the shortcomings of Mill's political analysis are the result of his efforts to cling to an impossibly "pure" empiricist methodology.

John Stuart Mill and the Employment of Married Women: Reconciling Utility and Justice

“…The solution is to adopt a synthetic approach, avoiding both absolute deductivism and pure empiricism. Mill thus develops his analysis based on inductive logic grounded in experience: the principal attributes of feminine nature are highlighted by deducing from observed behaviors the causalities allowing a common nature to be assumed (Ring 1985, p. 33). From there, as was mentioned above, Mill concludes that women generally have a “capacity for practice,” that they have a “sensibility to the present” and a “quickness of observation,” are “apt to build over-hasty generalizations upon [their] own observation” (1869a, p. 306), and have “a rapid and correct insight into present fact” (1869a, p. 305).…”