British Idealism: Philosophy with a Conscience

In this article we propose to argue that the general philosophical tendency that the British Idealists exhibited was distinct from Kantianism and Hegelianism, and worthy of study in its own right. British Idealism served a number of cultural and political purposes in a society which was transformed by the effects of rapid and comprehensive industrialisation, modernisation, and secularisation. Its general philosophical background provided assumptions and principles that counterbalance the harsher versions of individualism and market-based liberalism, or the more insensitive variants of utilitarianism. British Idealism offered in their place an emphasis on social cohesiveness giving due weight to individual and collective responsibility. The imperative of positive social citizenship became an important theme in early twentieth century politics, rights discourse and welfare theory. Idealists offered an elevated view of the relation between humanity and nature, which challenged the naturalism of Darwin and Spencer. God (or the Absolute Spirit) was immanent in the development of freedom in the world and Spirit expressed itself through the finite centres of individual lives.2 Idealism emphasised both the responsibilities of individuals to seize the opportunities to make themselves more virtuous, and of the owners of industrial capital to transform their factories and workshops into schools of virtue. The role of the state in all this was to ensure that any impediments to self-realisation were removed.