STILLBORN YET NOT WITHOUT INFLUENCE: WHAT MILL’S POLITICAL ECONOMY OWES TO HIS PROJECT OF ETHOLOGY

This article questions the articulation between John Stuart Mill’s initial project of creating a new science dedicated to means improving individual character, named “ethology,” and treatise political economy that he published instead. My claim is his defense free competition as well some arguments opposes it, which have often puzzled readers, actually reveal moral agenda principles, specifically ambivalent position towards paternalism.