Utilitarianism and the New Liberalism (Ideas in Context)

In this groundbreaking study, David Weinstein argues that nineteenth-century English New Liberalism was considerably more indebted to classical English utilitarianism than the received view holds. T.H. Green, L.T. Hobhouse, D.G. Ritchie and J.A. Hobson were liberal consequentialists who followed J.S. Mill in trying to accommodate robust, liberal moral rights with the normative goal of promoting self-realization. Through careful interpretation of each, Weinstein shows how these theorists brought together themes from idealism, perfectionism and especially utilitarianism to create the new liberalism. Like Mill, they were committed to liberalizing consequentialism and systematizing liberalism. Because they were no less consequentialists than they were liberals, they constitute a greatly undervalued resource, Mill notwithstanding, for contemporary moral philosophers who remain dedicated to defending a coherent form of liberal consequentialism. The New Liberals had already traveled much of the philosophical ground that contemporary liberal consequentialists are unknowingly retraveling. Features of this volume include: (1) individual chapters devoted to each of Green, Hobhouse, Ritchie, and Hobson; (2) a detailed philosophical chapter explaining the relevance of these Victorian theorists to problems in contemporary moral philosophy; and (3) an exploration of the relationship between 19th-century English utilitarianism and later New Liberalism.

Year

2008

Language

English

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Editions

1

Pages

242

ISBN

9780521875288

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