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In section 1.2, I briefly discussed morality and social and political philosophy as it relates to British Idealism. In Section 2.2 I further wondered how one could link the British Idealist movement to practical forms of idealism. In this section, I will discuss the British Idealist movement as it relates to social problems and the class society of its time.
The Industrial Revolution started in England, and most notably in Lancashire, around 1750. That is not to say that all the events contributing to it didn’t happen earlier. The wealthy people ehad already established their power through the Bil of Rights (1688), and the agricultural revolution - with its policy of "enclosures", way of dividing land, and later its new production methods - which preceded the Industrial Revolution may have started as early as 1500.
However, the great industrialization mostly happened during the later part of the eighteenth and the early nineteenth century. Scientific discoveries such as the steam engine had made wool spinning and cotton production much easier, and the wealthy farmers expelled poor farmers who didn’t own land themselves from their lands. These later got work in the manufacturies.
This led to the development of large cities, notably Manchester, which had the advantages of a good climate for cotton manufacture and a connection to Liverpool and the coal mines of central Lancashire. This, in turn, led to the development of new social classes.
Many philosophers reacted to the development of the new classes. In 1844, Friedrich Engels, who had been living in Manchester, described the town in a descriptive yet socially critical account. He wrote:
Such is the Old Town of Manchester, and on rereading my description, I am forced to admit that instead of being exaggerated, it is far from black enough to convey a true impression of the filth, ruin, and uninhabitableness, the defiance of all considerations of cleanliness, ventilation, and health which characterise the construction of this single district, containing at least twenty to thirty thousand inhabitants. And such a district exists in the heart of the second city of England, the first manufacturing city of the world. If any one wishes to see in how little space a human being can move, how little air - and such air! - he can breathe, how little of civilisation he may share and yet live, it is only necessary to travel hither.(22)
The Industrial Revolution and resulting class society, of course, led to new ideas about state action, which is probably most clear in the communism of Marx and Engels. The Industrial Revolution had challenged the previous idea that in survival of an individual there was most value. This idea was relating to the emerging concept of evolution - although Darwinian and other evolution theories didn't come till the second half of the nineteenth century. Working class movements believed that only in power in union one could reach individual rights. Because there was fear that state engineering would further limit freedom, J.S. Mill argued that the state should support personal liberty rather than collective mediocrity, which he said would be the result of the "tyranny of the majority". Mill, herby, criticized democracy, stating:
At present individuals are lost in the crowd. In politics it is almost a triviality to say that public opinion now rules the world. The only power deserving the name is that of masses, and of governments while they make themselves the organ of the tendencies and instincts of masses. This is as true in the moral and social relations of private life as in public transactions. Those whose opinions go by the name of public opinion, are not always the same sort of public: in America, they are the whole white population; in England, chiefly the middle class. (44) He however, as I said, still seeks to find a way in which a government can still enhance personal liberty.T.H. Green, however, found that the statehad a duty to make morality possible. He further stated that it was will, not force, that hereby is the basis for the state, as I also pointed out in the discussion on morality and will in section 1.2.
Political and Social Involvement among the British Idealists
As you wil likely have noticed in sections 1.1 and 1.2, most British Idealists held liberal views in relation to politics and social work. That is to say, they held social liberal views. T.H. Green and Edward Caird, for example, were active in university settlement programmes. A university settlement was a community in which recent graduates and professors of universities could reside, mostly during their holidays, while working and living with the poor. These people performed relief work to poor persons, and also worked to improve the opportunities of these people, for example in continuing education. T.H. Green and Edward Caird also worked to gain access to university for women.
Many Idealists were also active in local politics. T.H. Green and Henry Jones were both members of liberal associations, although Jones likely favoured the Labour Party.
Philosophy and Politics
As I made clear in section 2.2 already, many British Idealists, with only a few exceptions, found that philosophy could contribute valuably to society. This can be seen in their clearly established connection between theory and practice. According to my interpreta tion, it is indeed clear that, given the social and political invovement of the British Idealists, their political and social philosophy contributed to society.