Michael Thompson's Intellectual Outlook
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4494915 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Penelope J Corfield (0000-0001-8829-2690, Royal Holloway, University of London; Newcastle University UK, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 86 |
| Pages | 306-310 |
| Publication date | 2018-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | History Workshop Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1363-3554 • E-ISSN: 1477-4569 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/hwj/dby028 |
| OpenAlex | W2884555254 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 2 |
Michael Thompson (F.M.L. Thompson) was a classic liberal, braced by a strong strand of Quaker egalitarianism. By ‘liberal’, I don’t mean what is today called a ‘neo-liberal’ follower of Friedrich Hayek and the members of the Adam Smith Institute, who are dedicated to shrinking or abolishing the state. Michael Thompson strongly opposed such a viewpoint.1 Nor by ‘liberal’ do I mean someone who could be described as a ‘bleeding-heart liberal’. Michael Thompson certainly deplored a range of the hardships and injustices of this world. But he was a deeply reticent person, never one to express his emotions publicly, or indeed to spell out his worldview. Nonetheless, he was quietly and straightforwardly a classic John Stuart Mill sort of liberal. So Michael Thompson believed in values such as fair play (he was, after all, a cricket lover); free speech; equal rights; equal opportunities; equal respect between fellow citizens; and so forth.
Egalitarianism · Higher education · Liberal arts education · Liberal education · Liberalism · Mill · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Spell · State (computer science) · Theology · History · Law · Philosophy · Religion, Gender, and Enlightenment
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |