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Zusatztext an extremely engaging book ... Taylor has an admirable grasp of the literature and uses it to good effect in arguing cogently against many of the preconceptions and misunderstandings of Spencer's crucial ideas ... careful! scholarly and stimulating ... He has produced a highly original work which must serve as a reference point for future studies of Spencer's political thought. Informationen zum Autor Currently Analyst, Banking Supervision Division, Bank of England; formerly Lecturer in Political Philosophy and Political Theory, Lincoln College, Oxford (1986-1989) Klappentext This book is a study both of the political philosophy of Herbert Spencer (considered by many Victorians to be the greatest philosopher of their age) and of the ideas of the Individualists, a group of political thinkers inspired by him to uphold the policy of laisses-faire during the 1880s and 1890s. Despite their important contribution to nineteenth-century political debate, these thinkers have been neglected by historians, who have concentrated on the advocates of an enhanced role for government in economic and social affairs. The Individualists were forceful critics of this tendency to extend the frontiers of the State. This, the first comprehensive study of their ideas, sheds new light on the nature of late Victorian political argument. The book also provides an original perspective on Spencer's political philosophy, which provided Individualism with much of its intellectual justification. It will be of interest to anyone who wishes to see free-market conservatism in a historical context. Zusammenfassung Men Versus the State is a study of the political philosophy of Herbert Spencer and of the ideas of the Individualists, a group of thinkers inspired by Spencer to uphold the policy of laissez-faire during the 1880s and 1890s, whose important contribution to nineteenth-century political debate has been hitherto neglected by historians. Inhaltsverzeichnis Preface; The paradise lost of liberalism; Rivals to the Benthamite heritage; Progress and the struggle for existence; The formation of character; The organic conception of society; The individualist theory of history; The reworking of utilitarianism; Justice, property, and natural right; Individualism and conservatism; Select bibliography; Index...
