Book Description
Idealism and Rights discusses the theory of rights of the British idealist political philosopher, Bernard Bosanquet. Bosanquet's political philosophy, like that of the British idealists in general, has long been subject to misunderstanding and prejudice. Yet its practical influence, in Great Britain and its empire from the late nineteenth until the mid-twentieth centuries, was profound. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Bosanquet's ontology of rights
Bernard Bosanquet was, in his time, widely recognized as Britain's most important and influential living philosopher (with the possible and partial exception of fellow Idealist F.H. Bradley). Unfortunately both he and the"neo-Hegelian" tradition he represented have since been eclipsedby analytical philosophy -- Moore and Russell having undermined theIdealists' speculative metaphysics, and Karl Popper having quite unfairlytagged Hegelian thought as a statist enemy of the "open society."

But thanks to the efforts of William Sweet and a handful of other scholars,a renaissance in Idealist studies is afoot. And the present work is as finea contribution to it as I have seen.

In this volume Sweet sets himself thetask of recovering Bosanquet's doctrine of _rights_. That Bosanquet even_had_ such a doctrine may come as a surprise to anyone who knows ofBosanquet only through secondary sources, but he did indeed develop afairly thorough account of rights in _The Philosophical Theory of theState_ and elsewhere. Since the table of contents of Sweet's marvelous workis helpfully listed on this page, I shall keep my comments brief.

Bosanquet's account of rights is thoroughly teleological: he holds thatboth rights themselves and their moral authority derive from theircontribution to a common end which consists at heart of a society in whicheveryone is able to live a "good life." For him, the existenceand action of the "state" are justified precisely insofar as theycontribute toward this end. Central to this account is Bosanquet's doctrineof the "real will," of which Sweet provides an excellentexposition.

Basically, in my own paraphrase, one's "real will"consists of what one _would_ explicitly want, all things considered, if onewere fully and completely rational.Sweet provides a thorough and carefulexplication of this centrally important concept (including an admirableaccount of why it should be called our "_real_" will).

Thisdoctrine, which strongly influenced Brand Blanshard's similar account (in_Reason and Goodness_) of what he called the "rational will," hasbeen attacked on any number of grounds (notably by Hobhouse early thiscentury), and part of Sweet's concern is to defend it against contentionsthat it e.g. leads to statism, fails to assign the proper place toindividual good, and so forth. He handles the task well, and to my mindmakes a case that should be heard by libertarians and free-marketers of allstripes.

(My own view, for what it is worth, is that Bosanquet'steleological account of rights is essentially correct and with almost nomodification can be invoked to provide the real basis of the libertariansociety. I do not think statist conclusions follow from Bosanquet'spremises at all; indeed, I think Austrian economics would benefit fromplacing its analysis of "market process" on such a philosophicalfoundation.)

Sweet's volume is enormously helpful for another reason:Bosanquet's own prose style has been found somewhat uncongenial by manyreaders. Despite a brilliance that repays close reading, he does at timesstand in need of a more felicitous expositor who can make clear whatBosanquet himself leaves rather obscure. Sweet is a fine expository prosestylist and handles this task with clarity and skill. ... Read more

Product Description
Edited by H. Wildon Carr.This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1918 edition by Williams and Norgate, London. ... Read more

Book Description
1885. The present volume consists of a series of logical studies, based for the most part upon ideas propounded in Mr. F.H. Bradley's recent work, Principles of Logic. Contents: The Distinction Between the Categorical and the Hypothetical Judgment; The Judgment of Number and Measurement; The Nature of Assertion; The Judgment and the Sentence. Immediate Inference; The Alleged Subjectivity of Negation; Subsumption and the Analysis of Inference; and The Immediate Premise. ... Read more

Book Description
This new edition reintroduces on the central texts of late nineteenth-century political thought. In addition to the fourth and final edition of the Philosophical Theory of the State, the editors have added a comprehensive selection of Bosanquet's most important essays on political theory and social policy. Also added is a detailed new introduction, a guide to further reading, and an index. Together they make clear the social and political background and implications of Bosanquet's political philosophy and allow a more complete understanding of British idealism. ... Read more

Book Description
Among the ancients the fundamental theory of the beautiful was connected with the notions of rhythm, symmetry, harmony of parts; in short, with the general formula of unity in variety. Among the moderns we find that more emphasis is laid on the idea of significance, expressiveness, the utterance of all that life contains; in general, that is to say, on the conception of the characteristic. -from "Definition of Beauty"T.H. Green called him "the most gifted man of his generation." Certainly he was one of the most popular and most influential British idealists of the early 20th century, and an intellectual cousin of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell. In this definitive work, first published in 1892, Bernard Bosanquet explores the realm of aesthetics-the philosophy of art-from a romantic, almost mystical perspective, discussing how the appreciation of art exposes the spirituality of humanity, and why it is a vital component to any metaphysical understanding of the universe. From the earliest Greek poetry and Latin comedy to very modern ideas about "ugly beauty" and the impact of science on art, Bosanquet will change the way you look at art.British scholar and philosopher BERNARD BOSANQUET (1848-1923) also wrote, among his many works, Logic, or the Morphology of Knowledge (1888), The Civilization of Christendom and Other Studies (1893), and Social and International Ideals: Being Studies in Patriotism (1917). ... Read more