Political theorist discusses aspects of utilitarianism

A full-page black and white photo was passed around the room in Woodburn Hall, showing a group of 14 professors as they were in 1979.

Leading political theorist Alan Ryan was pictured at age 34 with the group, which IU political science professor Aurelian Craiutu called “The elite of Oxford ... the best of the best.”

Ryan, now 73, spoke to about 40 people Friday afternoon, discussing British philosopher John Stuart Mill and his principle of utilitarianism, its positive aspects and its downfalls.  

Put simply, Mill’s principle of utilitarianism holds that the best course of action is the one that produces the most happiness and yields the least suffering, and Mill is famous for fine-tuning the theory, Ryan said.

Ryan has been a professor at Oxford for 40 years, is renowned for his studies of Mill, and is a well-known author for the New York Review of Books, Craiutu said. “On Politics,” his two-volume history of political philosophy, was recently published in 2012.

Ryan spoke at length about his essay, “Re-Reading Mill,” as a part of the “Capitalism, Its Critics and Defenders” series organized by IU’s Tocqueville Program.

Ryan compared and contrasted Mill with other important philosophers of the time, including Tocqueville and his theories of democratic societies, and he focused mostly on the topics of utilitarianism and personal liberty.

Mill’s — and Ryan’s — belief was that people should view life with the utilitarian perspective. Ryan also discussed the ideas of personal liberty and justice, quoting Mill when he said “justice is grounded in utility, not in nature.”

Ryan also touched on the idea of freedom within a democratic society, comparing Mill’s and Tocqueville’s views on how public opinion might influence the way members of a society think, or refuse to think, for themselves.  

This is where Mill is still relevant today, Craiutu said.

“Think about his relevance in the context of current debates on liberty and the scope of government,” he said. “People resonate with his arguments about interference and non-interference.”

Ryan displayed his “British sense of humor and deprecation” during his talk, Craiutu said. Ryan generally agreed with Mill’s theories, but said he saw flaws in his thinking as well.

“One is allowed to complain about one’s heroes,” Ryan said, making the audience laugh.

Ryan recently returned to teach at Princeton University, where he had previously spent about eight years. Craiutu had met him there as a graduate student and has continued to keep in touch with him.

Ryan is the “quintessential Oxford professor,” Craiutu said, mentioning also that he was a “legend” at the school. Ryan began teaching at age 23 and after decades of teaching, became the president of New College, Oxford, one of the college’s highest honors.

“I remember I visited him in 1998,” Craiutu said. “And I saw how he lived. He had a private pond with goldfish behind his house.”

Craiutu said Ryan is one of the most important men in political theory in the past half-century and is “one of the last to survive from this generation of political thinkers.”

The lecture was the second in a year-long series of political science lectures through the Tocqueville Program.

This year’s lectures will all focus on capitalism and its defenders, but different formats and structures will be brought in to create a diverse experience, Craiutu said.

Some speakers will be political theorists and others will include historians. Both lectures and round-table discussions will be offered.

Graduate student Lindsay Munnelly said she had looked forward to the lecture.

“It’s interesting to have an older professor talk about Mill retrospectively,” she said.

Ryan, who described himself during the lecture as “easily carried away,” closed his talk with a metaphor that summarized his views and Mill’s opinions.

Mill had a passion for botany, he said.

“You can imagine a sort of society that’s kind of like gardening,” he said. “If you get it started, leave it to grow under its own impulsion. We can think of politics as a sort of gardening.”

Follow reporter Anicka Slachta on Twitter @ajslachta.