more on this theme     |     more from this text


Single Idea 23039

[filed under theme 24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 6. Liberalism / b. Liberal individualism ]

Full Idea

In so far as society commits itself to the principle of individuality of its citizens does it realise the unity and stability that constitute it a true 'State'.

Gist of Idea

A true state is only unified and stabilised by acknowledging individuality

Source

report of T.H. Green (works [1875]) by John H. Muirhead - The Service of the State II

Book Ref

Muirhead,John H.: 'The Service of the State: T.H. Green' [John Murray 2021], p.37


A Reaction

This asserts the liberal vision of a state, rather than asserting a fact. A state consistently mostly of slaves still seems to be a state, and may achieve a lot.

Related Idea

Idea 23038 People only develop their personality through co-operation with the social whole [Green,TH, by Muirhead]


The 27 ideas from T.H. Green

Knowledge is secured by the relations between its parts, through differences and identities [Green,TH, by Muirhead]
Equality also implies liberty, because equality must be of opportunity as well as possessions [Green,TH]
National spirit only exists in the individuals who embody it [Green,TH, by Muirhead]
The ground of property ownership is not force but the power to use it for social ends [Green,TH, by Muirhead]
The highest political efforts express our deeper social spirit [Green,TH, by Muirhead]
Communism is wrong because it restricts the freedom of individuals to contribute to the community [Green,TH, by Muirhead]
States only have full authority if they heed the claims of human fellowship [Green,TH]
Original common ownership is securing private property, not denying it [Green,TH, by Muirhead]
Property is needed by all citizens, to empower them to achieve social goods [Green,TH]
The good life aims at perfections, or absolute laws, or what is absolutely desirable [Green,TH]
People are improved by egalitarian institutions and habits [Green,TH]
All talk of the progress of a nation must reduce to the progress of its individual members [Green,TH]
People only develop their personality through co-operation with the social whole [Green,TH, by Muirhead]
The good is identified by the capacities of its participants [Green,TH, by Muirhead]
A true state is only unified and stabilised by acknowledging individuality [Green,TH, by Muirhead]
God is the ideal end of the mature mind's final development [Green,TH]
The ideal is a society in which all citizens are ladies and gentlemen [Green,TH]
What is distinctive of human life is the desire for self-improvement [Green,TH, by Muirhead]
Hedonism offers no satisfaction, because what we desire is self-betterment [Green,TH, by Muirhead]
Politics is compromises, which seem supported by a social contract, but express the will of no one [Green,TH]
Ideals and metaphysics are practical, not imaginative or speculative [Green,TH, by Muirhead]
Truth is a relation to a whole of organised knowledge in the collection of rational minds [Green,TH, by Muirhead]
All knowledge rests on a fundamental unity between the knower and what is known [Green,TH, by Muirhead]
The ultimate test for truth is the systematic interdependence in nature [Green,TH, by Muirhead]
If something develops, its true nature is embodied in its end [Green,TH]
God is the realisation of the possibilities of each man's self [Green,TH]
Enfranchisement is an end in itself; it makes a person moral, and gives a basis for respect [Green,TH]