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{{Short description|Early twentieth century political theorist, rational atheist, and social liberal}}
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[[File:Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse , c1910.jpg|thumb|Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse]]
[[File:Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse, c1910.jpg|thumb|Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse]]


'''Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse''' (8 September 1864 – 21 June 1929) was a British liberal [[political theory|political theorist]] and [[sociologist]], who has been considered one of the leading and earliest proponents of [[social liberalism]]. His works, culminating in his famous book ''Liberalism'' (1911), occupy a seminal position within the canon of [[social liberalism|New Liberalism]]. He worked both as an academic and a journalist, and played a key role in the establishment of sociology as an academic discipline; in 1907 he shared, with [[Edward Westermarck]], the distinction of being the first professor of sociology to be appointed in the United Kingdom, at the [[University of London]]. He was also the founder and first editor of ''[[The Sociological Review]]''. His sister was [[Emily Hobhouse]], the British welfare activist.
'''Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse''', [[Fellow of the British Academy|FBA]] (8 September 1864 – 21 June 1929) was an English liberal [[political theory|political theorist]] and [[sociologist]], who has been considered one of the leading and earliest proponents of [[social liberalism]]. His works, culminating in his famous book ''Liberalism'' (1911), occupy a seminal position within the canon of [[New liberalism (ideology)|New Liberalism]]. He worked both as an academic and a journalist, and played a key role in the establishment of sociology as an academic discipline; in 1907 he shared, with [[Edward Westermarck]], the distinction of being the first professor of sociology to be appointed in the United Kingdom, at the [[University of London]]. He was also the founder and first editor of ''[[The Sociological Review]]''. His sister was [[Emily Hobhouse]], the British welfare activist.


== Life ==
== Life ==
Hobhouse was born in [[St Ive]], near [[Liskeard]] in Cornwall,<ref>Freeden, Michael 'Hobhouse, Leonard Trelawny (1864–1929)', [[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]], [[Oxford University Press]], Sept 2004; online edn, May 2006 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/33906 accessed 15 Oct 2007]</ref> the son of [[Reginald Hobhouse]], an [[Anglican]] clergyman, and Caroline Trelawny. He attended [[Marlborough College]] before reading [[Greats]] at [[Corpus Christi College, Oxford]], where he graduated with a first-class degree in 1887. Upon his graduation, Hobhouse remained at Oxford as a prize fellow at [[Merton College]] before becoming a full fellow at Corpus Christi.<ref name="Meadowcroft">Meadowcroft, James (ed.) ''Hobhouse: Liberalism and Other Writings''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. pp. ix–x.</ref> Taking a break from academia between 1897 and 1907, Hobhouse worked as a journalist (including a stint with the ''[[Manchester Guardian]]'') and as the secretary of a trade union.<ref name="Meadowcroft"/> In 1907, Hobhouse returned to academia, accepting the newly created chair of sociology at the [[University of London]], titled the Martin White Professor of Sociology, where he remained until his death in 1929.<ref name="Meadowcroft"/>
Hobhouse was born in [[St Ive]], near [[Liskeard]] in Cornwall,<ref name = "LTHODNB">{{Cite ODNB|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/33906|title=Hobhouse, Leonard Trelawny|last = Freeden | first = Michael | author-link = Michael Freeden}}</ref> the son of [[Reginald Hobhouse]], an [[Anglican]] clergyman, and Caroline Trelawny. He attended [[Marlborough College]] before reading [[Greats]] at [[Corpus Christi College, Oxford]], where he graduated with a first-class degree in 1887.<ref name = "LTHODNB"/> Upon his graduation, Hobhouse remained at Oxford as a prize fellow at [[Merton College]] before becoming a full fellow at Corpus Christi.<ref name="Meadowcroft">{{cite book|last=Hobhouse|first=L. T.|editor=James Meadowcroft|editor1-link=James Meadowcroft|title=Liberalism and Other Writings| isbn = 0-521-43112-3|url=https://archive.org/details/liberalismotherw0000hobh/page/n5/mode/2up|url-access = registration | series=Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought|year=1994|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref>{{rp|ix–x}} Taking a break from academia between 1897 and 1907, Hobhouse worked as a journalist (including a stint with the ''[[Manchester Guardian]]'') and as the secretary of a trade union.<ref name="Meadowcroft"/>{{rp|ix–x}} In 1907, Hobhouse returned to academia, accepting the newly-created chair of sociology at the [[University of London]], titled the Martin White Professor of Sociology, where he remained until his death in 1929.<ref name="Meadowcroft"/>


Hobhouse was also an atheist from an early age, despite his father being an [[Archdeacon]].<ref name = "JAH">J A Hobson and Morris Ginsberg, ''L. T. Hobhouse: His life and work'', George Allen & Unwin, 1931, p.17.</ref> He believed that rational tests could be applied to values and that they could be self-consistent and objective.<ref name="JAH"/>
Hobhouse was also an [[atheist]] from an early age, despite his father being an [[archdeacon]].<ref name = "JAH">{{cite book|last1=Hobson|first1=J. A.|author-link1=J. A. Hobson|last2=Ginsberg|first2=Morris|author-link2=Morris Ginsberg|title=L. T. Hobhouse: His Life and Work|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.54558/page/n7/mode/2up|year=1931|publisher=George Allen & Unwin Ltd|location=London}}</ref>{{rp|17}} He believed that rational tests could be applied to values and that they could be self-consistent and objective.<ref name="JAH"/>{{rp|181}}


Hobhouse was never religious. He wrote in 1883 that he was "in politics... a firm radical. In religion... an (if possible yet firmer) agnostic."<ref name="Collini">Collini, Stefan. ''Liberalism and Sociology: L. T. Hobhouse and Political Argument in England 1880-1914'' (1983). p. 54</ref> In terms of his political and philosophical views, Hobhouse was [[William Gladstone|Gladstonian]], a devoted follower of the philosopher [[John Stuart Mill]], and an admirer of [[John Morley|Morley]], [[Charles Bradlaugh|Bradlaugh]], and [[Sir Charles Dilke, 2nd Baronet|Dilke]]. These influences him to various [[feminism|feminist]], democratic, and [[secularism|secularist]] political stances. He often proposed [[British republicanism|republican]] and democratic motions at debating societies while at school.<ref name="Collini"/>
Hobhouse was never religious. He wrote in 1883 that he was "in politics... a firm radical. In religion... an (if possible yet firmer) [[Agnosticism|agnostic]]".<ref name="Collini">{{cite book|last=Collini|first=Stefan|author-link=Stefan Collini|title=Liberalism and Sociology: L. T. Hobhouse and Political Argument in England 1880-1914|url=https://archive.org/details/liberalismsociol0000coll/page/n5/mode/2up|url-access = registration |year=1979|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-22304-0}}</ref>{{rp|54}} In terms of his political and philosophical views, Hobhouse was [[Gladstonian]]; a devoted follower of the philosopher [[John Stuart Mill]]; and an admirer of [[John Morley]], [[Charles Bradlaugh|Bradlaugh]]; and [[Sir Charles Dilke, 2nd Baronet]]. These influences led him to various [[feminist]], [[democracy|democratic]] and [[secularism|secularist]] political stances. He often proposed [[British republicanism|republican]] and democratic motions at debating societies while he was at school.<ref name="Collini"/>{{rp|54}}


== Economic policy ==
== Economic policy ==
Hobhouse was important in underpinning the turn-of-the-century 'New Liberal' movement of the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] under leaders like [[H. H. Asquith]] and [[David Lloyd George]]. He distinguished between property held 'for use' and property held 'for power'. Governmental co-operation with trade unions could therefore be justified as helping to counter the structural disadvantage of employees in terms of power. He also theorised that property was acquired not only by individual effort but by societal organisation. Essentially, wealth had a social dimension; it was a collective product. This means that those who had property owe some of their success to society and thus had some obligation to others. This, he believed, provides theoretical justification for a level of redistribution provided by the new state pensions.
Hobhouse was important in underpinning the turn-of-the-century 'New Liberal' movement of the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] under leaders like [[H. H. Asquith]] and [[David Lloyd George]]. He distinguished between property held 'for use' and property held 'for power'. Governmental co-operation with trade unions could therefore be justified as helping to counter the structural disadvantage of employees in terms of power. He also theorised that property was acquired not only by individual effort but by societal organisation. Essentially, wealth had a social dimension and was a collective product. That means that those who had property owed some of their success to society and thus had some obligation to others. He believed that to provide theoretical justification for a level of redistribution provided by the new state pensions.


Hobhouse disliked [[Marxism|Marxist]] socialism, describing his own position as [[liberal socialism]] and later as [[social liberalism]]. Hobhouse occupies a particularly important place in the intellectual history of the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] because of this.
Hobhouse disliked [[Marxist]] socialism and described his own position as [[liberal socialism]] and later as [[social liberalism]]. Hobhouse thus occupied a particularly-important place in the intellectual history of the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]].


== Civil liberty ==
== Civil liberty ==


His work also presents a positive vision of liberalism in which the purpose of liberty is to enable individuals to develop, not solely that freedom is good in itself. Hobhouse said that coercion should be avoided not because we have no regard for other peoples' well-being, but because coercion is ineffective at improving their lot.
His work also presents a positive vision of [[liberalism]] in which the purpose of liberty is to enable individuals to develop, not solely that freedom is good in itself. Hobhouse said that coercion should be avoided not for lack of regard for other people's well-being but because coercion is ineffective at improving their lot.


While rejecting the practical doctrines of [[classical liberalism]] like [[laissez-faire]], Hobhouse praised the work of earlier classical liberals like [[Richard Cobden]] in dismantling an archaic order of society and older forms of coercion. Hobhouse believed that one of the defining characteristics of liberalism was its emancipatory character, something that he believed ran constant from classical liberalism to the social liberalism he advocated. He nevertheless emphasised the various forms of coercion already existing in society apart from government. Therefore, he proposed that, to promote liberty, the state must ameliorate other forms of social coercion.
While rejecting the practical doctrines of [[classical liberalism]] like [[laissez-faire]], Hobhouse praised the work of earlier classical liberals like [[Richard Cobden]] in dismantling an archaic order of society and older forms of coercion. Hobhouse believed that one of the defining characteristics of liberalism was its emancipatory character, something that he believed ran constant from classical liberalism to the social liberalism he advocated. He nevertheless emphasised the various forms of coercion already existing in society apart from government. Therefore, he proposed that to promote liberty, the state must ameliorate other forms of social coercion.


Hobhouse held out hope that Liberals and what would now be called the [[social democrat]] tendency in the nascent [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] party could form a grand progressive coalition.
Hobhouse held out hope that Liberals and what would now be called the [[social democrat]] tendency in the nascent [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] could form a grand progressive coalition.


== Foreign policy ==
== Foreign policy ==
Hobhouse was often disappointed that fellow collectivists in Britain at the time also tended to be imperialists. Hobhouse opposed the [[Second Boer War|Boer war]] and his sister, [[Emily Hobhouse]], did much to draw attention to the abject conditions in the concentration camps established by the British Army in South Africa. Initially opposing the [[First World War]], he later came to support the war effort.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bookrags.com/biography/leonard-trelawny-hobhouse/|title=Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse Biography|author=|date=|website=www.bookrags.com}}</ref> He was an [[Internationalism (politics)|internationalist]] and disliked the pursuit of British national interests as practised by the governments of the day. During the war Hobhouse criticised the [[British Idealists]] such as [[Bernard Bosanquet (philosopher)|Bernard Bosanquet]] in his book ''The Philosophical Theory of the State'' (1918) for being [[Hegelianism|Hegelians]] and therefore Germanizers.
Hobhouse was often disappointed that fellow collectivists in Britain at the time also tended to be imperialists. Hobhouse opposed the [[Second Boer War|Boer War]], and his sister, [[Emily Hobhouse]], did much to draw attention to the abject conditions in the concentration camps established by the British Army in South Africa. Initially opposing the [[First World War]], he later came to support the war effort.<ref name = "LTHODNB"/> He was an [[internationalism (politics)|internationalist]] and disliked the pursuit of British national interests as practised by the governments of the day. During the war, Hobhouse criticised the [[British Idealists]] such as [[Bernard Bosanquet (philosopher)|Bernard Bosanquet]] in his book ''The Metaphysical Theory of the State'' (1918) for being [[Hegelianism|Hegelians]] and therefore Germanizers.


== Works ==
== Works ==
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*[https://archive.org/details/mindinevolution00hobhuoft ''Mind in Evolution''] (1901)
*[https://archive.org/details/mindinevolution00hobhuoft ''Mind in Evolution''] (1901)
*[https://archive.org/details/democracyreactio00hobhuoft ''Democracy and Reaction''] (1905)
*[https://archive.org/details/democracyreactio00hobhuoft ''Democracy and Reaction''] (1905)
*''Morals in Evolution: a study in comparative ethics'' in two volumes (1906)
*''Morals in Evolution: a Study in Comparative Ethics'' in two volumes (1906)
:*[https://archive.org/details/moralsinevoluti01hobhgoog/page/n8/mode/2up ''Part I'']
*''Liberalism'' (1911)
:*[https://archive.org/details/moralsinevoluti04hobhgoog/page/n6/mode/2up ''Part II'']
*''[[s:Liberalism|Liberalism]]'' (1911)
*[https://archive.org/details/socialevolutionp00hobhuoft ''Social Evolution and Political Theory''] (1911)
*[https://archive.org/details/socialevolutionp00hobhuoft ''Social Evolution and Political Theory''] (1911)
*[https://archive.org/details/developmentandpu032447mbp ''Development and Purpose''] (1913)
*[https://archive.org/details/developmentandpu032447mbp ''Development and Purpose''] (1913)
*[https://archive.org/details/materialcultures00hobhrich ''The Material Culture and Social Institutions of the Simpler Peoples''] (1915)
*[https://archive.org/details/materialcultures00hobhrich ''The Material Culture and Social Institutions of the Simpler Peoples : An Essay in Correlation''] (London: Chapman and Hall, 1915, reprinted 1930).
*[https://archive.org/details/questionsofwarp00hobh ''Questions Of War And Peace''] (1916)
*[https://archive.org/details/metaphysicaltheo00hobhuoft ''The Metaphysical Theory of the State: a criticism''] (1918)
*[https://archive.org/details/metaphysicaltheo00hobhuoft ''The Metaphysical Theory of the State: a criticism''] (1918)
*[https://archive.org/details/therationalgooda00hobbuoft ''The Rational Good: a study in the logic of practice''] (1921)
*[https://archive.org/details/therationalgooda00hobbuoft ''The Rational Good: a study in the logic of practice''] (1921)
*[https://archive.org/details/theelementsofsoc00hobhuoft ''The Elements of Social Justice''] (1922)
*[https://archive.org/details/theelementsofsoc00hobhuoft ''The Elements of Social Justice''] (1922)
*''Social Development: its nature and conditions'' (1924)
*[https://archive.org/details/b29810437/page/n7/mode/2up ''Social Development: its Nature and Conditions''] (1924)
*''Sociology and Philosophy: a centenary collection of essays and articles'' (1966)
*[https://archive.org/details/sociologyphiloso0000unse/page/n5/mode/2up ''Sociology and Philosophy: a Centenary Collection of Essays and Articles''] (1966), with a preface by [[Sydney Caine]] and an introduction by [[Morris Ginsberg]]


== See also ==
== See also ==

{{Col-begin}}{{Col-2}}
;Books
* ''[[Reason and Revolution]]''
* ''[[Reason and Revolution]]''
{{Col-break}}
;Topics
* [[Contributions to liberal theory]]
* [[Contributions to liberal theory]]
* Liberalism
{{Col-end}}
A. DE SANCTIS, Leonard T. Hobhouse: libero scambio e giustizia sociale, CET, Firenze, 2014


==References==
==References==
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* {{wikiquote-inline}}
* {{wikiquote-inline}}
* {{wikisource author-inline}}
* {{wikisource author-inline}}
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/l-t-hobhouse}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=Hobhouse,+L.+T.+(Leonard+Trelawny) | name=Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=33241| name=Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060930235307/http://www.liberalhistory.org.uk/item_single.php?item_id=28&item=biography Short biography by David Howarth MP]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060930235307/http://www.liberalhistory.org.uk/item_single.php?item_id=28&item=biography Short biography by David Howarth MP]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160123081159/http://www.liberal-international.org/editorial.asp?ia_id=684 Profile at the Liberal International]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160123081159/http://www.liberal-international.org/editorial.asp?ia_id=684 Profile at the Liberal International]
* {{IMDb title|0098462|That Englishwoman (1989)}} – A film directed by Dirk DeVilliers
* {{IMDb title|qid=Q10952440|title=That Englishwoman (1989)}} – A film directed by [[Dirk de Villiers]]

{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


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[[Category:English agnostics]]
[[Category:English agnostics]]
[[Category:English republicans]]
[[Category:English republicans]]
[[Category:British secularists]]
[[Category:British critics of religions]]
[[Category:British radicals]]
[[Category:British social liberals]]
[[Category:British social liberals]]
[[Category:Hobhouse family]]
[[Category:Hobhouse family|Leonard]]

Revision as of 22:03, 11 May 2024

Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse

Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse, FBA (8 September 1864 – 21 June 1929) was an English liberal political theorist and sociologist, who has been considered one of the leading and earliest proponents of social liberalism. His works, culminating in his famous book Liberalism (1911), occupy a seminal position within the canon of New Liberalism. He worked both as an academic and a journalist, and played a key role in the establishment of sociology as an academic discipline; in 1907 he shared, with Edward Westermarck, the distinction of being the first professor of sociology to be appointed in the United Kingdom, at the University of London. He was also the founder and first editor of The Sociological Review. His sister was Emily Hobhouse, the British welfare activist.

Life

Hobhouse was born in St Ive, near Liskeard in Cornwall,[1] the son of Reginald Hobhouse, an Anglican clergyman, and Caroline Trelawny. He attended Marlborough College before reading Greats at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he graduated with a first-class degree in 1887.[1] Upon his graduation, Hobhouse remained at Oxford as a prize fellow at Merton College before becoming a full fellow at Corpus Christi.[2]: ix–x  Taking a break from academia between 1897 and 1907, Hobhouse worked as a journalist (including a stint with the Manchester Guardian) and as the secretary of a trade union.[2]: ix–x  In 1907, Hobhouse returned to academia, accepting the newly-created chair of sociology at the University of London, titled the Martin White Professor of Sociology, where he remained until his death in 1929.[2]

Hobhouse was also an atheist from an early age, despite his father being an archdeacon.[3]: 17  He believed that rational tests could be applied to values and that they could be self-consistent and objective.[3]: 181 

Hobhouse was never religious. He wrote in 1883 that he was "in politics... a firm radical. In religion... an (if possible yet firmer) agnostic".[4]: 54  In terms of his political and philosophical views, Hobhouse was Gladstonian; a devoted follower of the philosopher John Stuart Mill; and an admirer of John Morley, Bradlaugh; and Sir Charles Dilke, 2nd Baronet. These influences led him to various feminist, democratic and secularist political stances. He often proposed republican and democratic motions at debating societies while he was at school.[4]: 54 

Economic policy

Hobhouse was important in underpinning the turn-of-the-century 'New Liberal' movement of the Liberal Party under leaders like H. H. Asquith and David Lloyd George. He distinguished between property held 'for use' and property held 'for power'. Governmental co-operation with trade unions could therefore be justified as helping to counter the structural disadvantage of employees in terms of power. He also theorised that property was acquired not only by individual effort but by societal organisation. Essentially, wealth had a social dimension and was a collective product. That means that those who had property owed some of their success to society and thus had some obligation to others. He believed that to provide theoretical justification for a level of redistribution provided by the new state pensions.

Hobhouse disliked Marxist socialism and described his own position as liberal socialism and later as social liberalism. Hobhouse thus occupied a particularly-important place in the intellectual history of the Liberal Democrats.

Civil liberty

His work also presents a positive vision of liberalism in which the purpose of liberty is to enable individuals to develop, not solely that freedom is good in itself. Hobhouse said that coercion should be avoided not for lack of regard for other people's well-being but because coercion is ineffective at improving their lot.

While rejecting the practical doctrines of classical liberalism like laissez-faire, Hobhouse praised the work of earlier classical liberals like Richard Cobden in dismantling an archaic order of society and older forms of coercion. Hobhouse believed that one of the defining characteristics of liberalism was its emancipatory character, something that he believed ran constant from classical liberalism to the social liberalism he advocated. He nevertheless emphasised the various forms of coercion already existing in society apart from government. Therefore, he proposed that to promote liberty, the state must ameliorate other forms of social coercion.

Hobhouse held out hope that Liberals and what would now be called the social democrat tendency in the nascent Labour Party could form a grand progressive coalition.

Foreign policy

Hobhouse was often disappointed that fellow collectivists in Britain at the time also tended to be imperialists. Hobhouse opposed the Boer War, and his sister, Emily Hobhouse, did much to draw attention to the abject conditions in the concentration camps established by the British Army in South Africa. Initially opposing the First World War, he later came to support the war effort.[1] He was an internationalist and disliked the pursuit of British national interests as practised by the governments of the day. During the war, Hobhouse criticised the British Idealists such as Bernard Bosanquet in his book The Metaphysical Theory of the State (1918) for being Hegelians and therefore Germanizers.

Works

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Freeden, Michael. "Hobhouse, Leonard Trelawny". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33906. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ a b c Hobhouse, L. T. (1994). James Meadowcroft (ed.). Liberalism and Other Writings. Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-43112-3.
  3. ^ a b Hobson, J. A.; Ginsberg, Morris (1931). L. T. Hobhouse: His Life and Work. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd.
  4. ^ a b Collini, Stefan (1979). Liberalism and Sociology: L. T. Hobhouse and Political Argument in England 1880-1914. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-22304-0.