Liberal thought and thinkers
Liberal thought
Review of Kevin Hickson (ed.), The Political Thought of the Liberals and Liberal Democrats since 1945 (Manchester University Press, 2009).
Think Liberal: The ‘Dictionary of Liberal Thought’
Report of History Group meeting, March 2007 (Harrogate), with David Howarth MP and Michael Meadowcroft.
Philosopher of freedom
Wilhelm von Humboldt and early German Liberalism.
The New Liberalism
The disaster of the 1895 election, when the Liberals lost almost a hundred seats, struck a mortal blow at Rosebery's leadership and pointed to the urgent need for a new direction. Although for some it was the party's abandonment of its historic principles of self-help, voluntaryism and constitutional reform that lay at fault, to others…
Adam Smith, 1723-1790
Adam Smith did for economic liberalism what John Locke had done for political liberalism, namely, to lay the philosophical foundations on which others would build a distinctive liberal tradition. Smith’s ideas, however, have permeated the western political tradition to the extent where not only liberals but also other contemporary schools of thought claim to be…
Leonard Trelawney Hobhouse, 1864-1929
Leonard Trelawney Hobhouse, born at Liskeard, Cornwall on 8 September 1864, came from a long line of Anglican clerics. His father, the Venerable Reginald Hobhouse, was Rector of St Ive, near Liskeard, a position he had obtained through his political connections with Sir Robert Peel. His mother was a Trelawney from the prominent West Country…
Jeremy Bentham, 1745-1832
Jeremy Bentham, the English moral philosopher, jurist, social reformer, political economist and founding father of modern utilitarianism was born in London on 15 February 1748. His ambitious father, also a lawyer, had plans for young Jeremy to become Lord Chancellor of England, not only making his name but also his fortune in the process. Despite…
John Stuart Mill’s ‘On Liberty’ 150 years later
An analysis of the most well-known work of the greatest of the Victorian Liberal philosophers, published 150 years ago this year, and an assessment of its relevance to 2009.
Greatest of the Liberal philosophers
Review of Richard Reeves, John Stuart Mill, Victorian Firebrand (Atlantic Books, 2007).