At the turn of the century Idealism was perhaps the leading school of philosophy in the English-speaking world. By the 1960s the situation was very different. There had occurred during the previous two generations what has been described as ‘a revolution in philosophy’, one consequence of which had been the almost total eclipse of Idealism. Originally published in 1962, this book is a critical study of certain aspects of the work of four Idealist philosophers: F. H. Bradley, T. H. Green, Bernard Bosanquet and Josiah Royce. It deals mainly with their social philosophy, but some consideration is also given to their metaphysics. It is the thesis of this book that there is a valid and significant form of Idealism to be found in the work of these philosophers, but that they did not succeed in developing it fully and consistently.

At the turn of the century Idealism was perhaps the leading school of philosophy in the English-speaking world. By the 1960s the situation was very different. There had occurred during the previous two generations what has been described as 'a revolution in philosophy', one consequence of which had been the almost total eclipse of Idealism. Originally published in 1962, this book is a critical study of certain aspects of the work of four Idealist philosophers: F. H. Bradley, T. H. Green, Bernard Bosanquet and Josiah Royce. It deals mainly with their social philosophy, but some consideration is also given to their metaphysics. It is the thesis of this book that there is a valid and significant form of Idealism to be found in the work of these philosophers, but that they did not succeed in developing it fully and consistently.

The moral justification for government is, that it is needed to promote the community's interest. What is that interest an interest in? Upon what basis can disagreements about the community's interest and individual interests be reconciled? Can democracy enable dissatisfaction with their reconciliation to be lived with? Perhaps, if people are prepared to meet the requirements of democratic citizenship. What are these requirements, and what is their justification? These are the questions with which this book is concerned.

Introduction - PART 1 MORALITY - Rules, Principles and Conduct - Morality and Society - Moral Universality and Moral Diversity - Moral Diversity Continued: Religion and Ideology - Morality and the 'Categorical Imperative' - PART 2 RIGHTS - The Idea of Rights - The Idea of Rights Continued - The Idea of Rights Continued: Human Rights - Human Rights and Politics - Notes - Index

Introduction - PART 1 MORALITY - Rules, Principles and Conduct - Morality and Society - Moral Universality and Moral Diversity - Moral Diversity Continued: Religion and Ideology - Morality and the 'Categorical Imperative' - PART 2 RIGHTS - The Idea of Rights - The Idea of Rights Continued - The Idea of Rights Continued: Human Rights - Human Rights and Politics - Notes - Index