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In this new and entirely revised edition of his study of Green's theory of positive freedom, Ben Wempe argues that the far-reaching and beneficial influence of Green's political doctrine, on public policy as well as in the field of political theory, was founded on a misinterpretation of his philosophical stand, since the metaphysical basis on which Green argued for his political position was largely neglected. The book discusses Green's philosophical development and examines an important, hitherto underrated, influence that went into the formation of his philosophical opinions. It then considers Green's metaphysics and describes how some omissions from the concise version of his metaphysical doctrine, as it is found in his published works, may be remedied by reference to Green's unpublished material.

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Philosophie et théologie

Philosophy

Human rights

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Publié par	Andrews UK
Date de parution	19 janvier 2017
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781845405885
Langue	English

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T.H. Green’s Theory of Positive Freedom
From Metaphysics to Political Theory
Ben Wempe
IMPRINT ACADEMIC

2017 digital version converted and published by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
Copyright © Ben Wempe, 2004, 2017
The moral rights of the author have been asserted.
No part of any contribution may be reproduced in any form without permission, except for the quotation of brief passages in criticism and discussion.
Imprint Academic
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Preface to the 2004 Edition
In October 1986 I defended my Ph.D. on T.H.Green’s theory of positive freedom with a book entitled Beyond Equality: A Study of T.H.Green’s Theory of Positive Freedom . This was based on a reading of Green’s unpublished manuscripts which are deposited in Balliol College Library, Oxford. I had chosen Green by way of compromise between my own interest in Hegel and the expertise of my supervisor at the European University Institute in Florence, the late Maurice Cranston. My interest in Hegel I had picked up in the course of my training in political theory at Leiden University where I had studied with Herman van Gunsteren, who eventually also was to become a supervisor to my Ph.D. But Cranston did not see fit to supervise a dissertation on Hegel, and so we came up with the British Idealists as a subject that would meet both our interests. British Idealism seemed like a fascinating period in British intellectual history since it so sharply contrasted with the traditionally empiricist nature of British philosophy. Green struck me as the ‘best of the bunch’ since he was the founder of the school and hence the principal champion of a new radical message in England. The topic of positive freedom was directly connected to the discipline in which I was trained. The fact that there was a substantial collection of unpublished manuscripts only made the project more exciting. I did soon realize, however, that my topic was going to be a rather lonely adventure: a relatively eccentric subject with only a handful of fellow researchers to share my interests. But I also saw the advantages: this way at least there still was something for me to discover.
I never made much of an effort to publicize this book and neither did the publisher. For that reason, it was for a long time one of the most difficult publications to obtain in the whole world. It was not just Beyond Equality, but also ‘Beyond Reach’ (I owe this quip to Derrick Darby). I completely acquiesced in the idea that my research on Green’s manuscripts would remain a one man’s enterprise. After all, everyone needs some subject to delve into for a dissertation and I decided that mine was as good as any. However, in 2002 I discovered much to my surprise that the climate for Idealist studies had altered radically. Not only were there many more people working in this field than I had ever thought possible, there even was sufficient support for a conference entirely devoted to Green, which was organized at Harris Manchester College, Oxford.
In this new edition of my book I want to give wider publicity to the findings of this research project from 1986. To do a full job would require a complete re-writing of the book, which would have taken much more extended research. Instead I have chosen to bring it up to date by supplementing the account from 1986 with references to all new studies on Green which have been published since then. It is not my ambition in the course of this book to actually enter into a debate with all scholars who published on Green since I finished the research on my Ph.D. In chronological order these are Jerry Gaus, 1983; Andrew Vincent, 1986, 2000; Geoffrey Thomas, 1987; Avital Simhony, 1989, 1991a, 1991b, 1993a, 1993b, 1995; Peter Nicholson , 1990; Colin Tyler, 1997; Maria Dimova-Cookson, 2001, 2003; Matt Carter, 2003 and David Brink, 2003. To make the book up to date I have provided cross references to this rapidly growing body of literature wherever this is relevant. I also have taken out some sections which now strike me as needlessly detailed digressions. In this manner, I omitted in Chapter One a reconstruction of the background of Hegel’s Propaedeutik and an account of the various hypotheses I ventured regarding the status of the manuscript translation of this work which is kept among Green’s papers. In Chapter Two I abridged the exposition of the published account of Green’s general metaphysics in Prolegomena .
By issuing this updated edition I intend to make the results of my research accessible to a wider audience of scholars so that it can be taken into account in new directions in the interpretation of Green’s body of thought.

Acknowledgements
While this new edition has a limited ambition, there nevertheless are a great number of people and institutions whom I want to thank. First is the Rotterdam School of Management, my present employer, which generously granted and helped to finance a year’s sabbatical leave. In a practical sense this was made possible by my colleague Dr. Hans van Oosterhout who took on a substantial part of my teaching responsibilities this year. Harris Manchester College offered me for a year a hospitable and most stimulating working environment. I am particularly indebted to the Principal, Revd. Dr. Ralph Waller, whose friendly and easy-going style of management radiates into every aspect of the College life; to Dr. William Mander, who nominated me as a Visiting Research Fellow; and to Sue Killoran, by any standard the best Librarian in the world. I acknowledge once again the help I received from my colleague and flatmate in Florence, David Brew, who disinterestedly spent a considerable time correcting the English in the original book. For the present edition I could rely on the unrivalled scholarship and the critical eye of Peter Nicholson. My thanks too to Dr. Geoffrey Thomas for his comments and suggestions for revising the original book.
Annet Withagen, my partner in life, contributed by her stimulating enthusiasm for this project. The book is dedicated to my mother, H.P.M. Wempe-Bielars and to the memory of my father, J.A.D. Wempe.

So long as the object of political progress could be sufficiently described as the equality of all men before the law, or the removal of restraints which were equally impediments to pleasure & to noble living on the part of those affected by ‘em, it did not much matter how the common good was conceived. It was enough to insist that it should really be common - the good of the greatest number. But now that equality before the law has been pretty well established in middle & western Europe; now that everyone is coming to be recognised as having a title to take part in the direction of the powers of society; further questions arise as to the end to which those powers should be directed.
... The difficulties which reflecting & disinterested men feel in regard to the claims of the great causes & movements that affect modern society turn on questions as to the nature of the social good which is to be sought for.
T.H. Green

Introduction
Thomas Hill Green was a nineteenth century thinker, who made an important contribution to the introduction of continental idealist philosophy in Britain. In this manner he helped to establish a school of thought known as the British Idealists, which was to become the dominant trend in British philosophy in the last three decades of that century. In this book I seek to reconstruct Green’s theory of positive freedom as an integral part of his system of Idealist philosophy.
A. The Thesis of the Book
One of the more remarkable features of Green’s reputation as a philosopher was that, in spite of considerable literary output during his academic career, very little of this was published during his lifetime. Apart from a lengthy Introduction to a new edition of Hume, which he prepared with T.H. Grose, his publications did not amount to more than a small number of essays and reviews. [1] It was not until after his early death in 1882 that any of his other works were published, including those with which he acquired a place in the history of British philosophy. First of all came his influential treatise on moral philosophy, Prolegomena to Ethics , which was based on his professorial lectures in 1880–1882. [2] Of all his posthumous publications , Prolegomena was without doubt the book which corresponded best to the type of work Green himself would have published, had he lived longer. According to his own account, [3] the manuscript was complete but for some twenty or thirty pages, and it required only minor editorial amendments by his former pupil A.C. Bradley before it was printed. All of Green’s other posthumously published writings were included in the edition of his Works , edited by another pupil, R.L. Nettleship , who also wrote a short Memoir of Green. [4] In addition to the writings already published during his lifetime Nettleship selected two lecture courses from Green’s tutorial period: one on Kant’s Critique complemented with notes on Kant’s moral philosophy and another on Mill’s Logic , as well as Green’s professorial lectures on ‘The Principles of Political Obligation and the Social Virtues,’ delivered over three terms in 1879–1880. [5]
The reputation as a philosopher which Green acquired through his publications was chiefly in the field of ethical and political philosophy: his ethical theory was fully worked up in his influential and authoritative Prolegomena , while he made his name as a political philosopher with the lectures on Political Obligation already mentioned, which were initially published in the collected Works , but afterwards issued under separate cover. However, if we do not restrict ourselv