Individuality, Freedom and Socialism

The British Idealists' Critiques of the Fichtean State

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6343385
AutoresColin Tyler (0000-0003-0338-9181, University of Hull, autor de correspondencia)
Año2015
Volumen63
Número2
Páginas319-335
Fecha de publicación2015-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPolitical Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0032-3217 • E-ISSN: 1467-9248
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/1467-9248.12108
OpenAlexW1578493394
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas4
Referencias citadas30

Together with utilitarianism, British idealism dominated Anglo-American philosophy from the 1870s until the end of the First World War. This article counters a persisting criticism of the British idealists: that they endorsed the allegedly oppressive and static theory of the state associated with German idealists, especially J. G. Fichte. The article introduces the British idealists' reputation as Fichtean collectivists and provides an overview of leading current interpretations of Fichte's political thought. It then analyses T. H. Green's use of Fichtean terminology against the background of Fichte's reception in Britain in the 1860s and 1870s. Edward Caird's interpretation of — and alternative to — Fichte's socialism is analysed, followed by an examination of the readings of William Wallace and Bernard Bosanquet. It is concluded that these British idealists rejected the alleged Fichtean centralism for which they have been condemned, and did so on grounds that retain force in contemporary debates between Fichte scholars

Cosmopolitanism · Criticism · Epistemology · Historicism · Idealism · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · State (computer science · Utilitarianism · Law · Philosophical Ethics and Theory · Philosophy · Political Theory and Influence · Seventeenth-Century Political and Philosophical Thought