Freedom and History

Name: Freedom and History
Brand: Taylor & Francis

Taylor & Francis

First published in 1962, Freedom and History expresses a deep concern about freedom and the way it is imperilled by misunderstandings. The cause of freedom has not always been well served by its friends; by presenting one -sided ideas of freedom they have often paved the way for extreme forms of collectivism and despotism. Professor Lewis examines works of T.H. Green and compares Green with Locke and Rousseau, to show how much the attitude of Green and other idealists to questions of education, the family, punishment, slavery, and war was affected by the individualism that underlay their thought and the failure to pay due heed to the facts of moral perplexity. This in turn is seen to owe much to the optimism of late nineteenth century thinkers and the belief in inevitable progress. The volume also discusses the nature of history, objectivity in history, religion and history, and law and morality. Author subjects the works of writers like Reinhold Niebuhr, Barbara Wootton, Ian Ramsey,.