Mill, James (1773–1836)

James Mill, who is today remembered mainly as Bentham’s chief disciple and John Stuart Mill’s father, was a British philosopher, political theorist, historian, psychologist, economist, educationist and journalist. He was also largely responsible for clarifying and systematizing Bentham’s utilitarianism, for introducing a distinction between ‘lower’, animal pleasures and ‘higher’, uniquely human ones, and for organizing the small but influential band of Bentham’s followers that became known as the ‘philosophic radicals’. In politics, he favoured representative democracy as the only practicable system of government capable of maximizing individual and communal happiness.

There Will Be Killing: Collectivization and Death of Draft Animals

The elimination of private property rights can lead to ineffcient use of productive assets. In China's collectivization movement from 1955 to 1957, instead of transferring draft animals to the ownership of the collectives, peasants slaughtered them to keep the meat and hide. By comparing 1,600 counties that launched the movement in different years, the difference-in-differences estimates suggest that the animal loss during the movement was 12 to 15 percent, or 7.4–9.5 million head. Grain output dropped by 7 percent due to lower animal inputs and lower productivity. (JEL N45, N55, O13, P26, P32, Q11)

1. An Uncommon Case of Zoophilia

Humans show a wide array of sexual preferences and behaviour. Zoophilia, or bestiality, consists of sexual intercourse by a human being with a lower animal. There is a paucity of literature on zoophilia. We describe a rare case of preferential zoophilia involving multiple animals. The perpetrator developed this habit only during episodes of depression. It is recommended that due to the apparent common occurrence of this condition, questions exploring a topic which appears to be routinely ignored should be included in the psychiatric interview.