‘An unremitting conflict between good and evil powers’: John Stuart Mill’s Manichean liberalism

Although there is broad agreement that John Stuart Mill is a major representative of liberalism, there is ongoing debate over the specific type of liberal he is. Whereas current political studies implicitly present Mill as a deliberative liberal by commonly portraying him as a forerunner of contemporary deliberative democrats, this article reveals a crucial anti-deliberative dimension of his political thought. Interpreting his explicit Manichean references as well as the implications of his discussions of sinister interest and contempt, this article argues that, along with its deliberative counterpart, Mill offers ‘Manichean progressivism,’ which conceives political progress as a result of conflict between the forces of good and evil. In this account, deliberation has no essential role, and demonizing perception and contemptuous feeling are both morally appropriate and potentially conducive to progress. Presenting Mill as a source of Manichean liberalism, this article challenges the typical image of him in the contemporary study of politics while highlighting a much-overlooked anti-deliberative aspect of the liberal ideological tradition.