Abstract

The dissertation explores the moral and social implications of the quarrel between science and religion, through a close inquiry into the treatment of this issue by John Stuart Mill. There are several reasons for choosing Mill; one is that he investigated that issue as comprehensively and rigorously as did any of his contemporaries or immediate predecessors, another, that his treatment has the merit of being informed by a vivid, first-hand experience of what was subsequently labeled by historians the "Victorian crisis of faith." The thesis of the dissertation can be stated as follows. In Mill's view the ineluctable progress of science promises humankind complete freedom from the trammels of the old religion, but in seeking to make good it threatens to create a spiritual void which could not easily be filled; granted that Mill was an atheist or a complete skeptic, because he saw clearly this central dilemma of modernity, his was a case of ambivalent if not "reluctant skepticism." The body of the dissertation is divided into three parts. In the first part Mill's view of the usefulness of religion is expounded. The second part delves into his argument concerning the scientific support for theism, with a view to illuminating the nature and extent of the quarrel between science and religion as he construed it. The third part is a more detailed investigation of his teaching about the main moral and social implications of that conflict. The dissertation closes with a brief, tentative exploration of certain outstanding issues arising from his overall teaching about religion in the age of science. The textual focus of the dissertation is Mill's posthumously published Three Essays on Religion, especially "Utility of Religion" and "Theism," but reference is frequently made to other works by Mill as well as to works by other authors. All references and supplementary discussions are given in footnotes. A complete list of works cited is provided