Bernard Bosanquet

Bernard Bosanquet

Philosophy

Profession: Philosopher Social theorist (Professional) Role in St Andrews: Professor of moral philosophy Years in St Andrews: 1903-1907

history

1848

fal2@st-andrews.ac.uk

Organisation

195

Bernard Bosanquet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Bosanquet_(philosopher)

TEXT

Q822329

D.O.B: 1848 D.O.D: 1923 Family origins: Father: Robert William Bosanquet, of Rock, Northumberland Mother: Caroline Bosanquet, daughter of Colonel Education: Preparatory Schools Sherburn, Durham, Elstree, Harrow Balliol College, Oxford Private life/family life: Married Helen Dendy, no children

Involved in which fields of scholarship? (e.g. geology, philosophy and medicine) Philosophy Most famous contribution(s) to scholarship 1 (i.e. in philosophy): Strongly influenced by Plato and the Greek philosophers, by Nettleship, Toynbee, and, above all, Thomas Hill Green (idealist philosophy); logic inspired by Bradley Contributions to journal Mind Knowledge and Reality, criticism of Bradley, which became basis for Logic in 1888 Aesthetics: influence by Morris; History of Aesthetic in 1892 Fabian Society invited him to explain his political standpoint in 1890: neither individualist nor committed to laissez-faire; willing to subscribe to the ideas of 'moral socialism'; believed 'economic socialists' were on the wrong track, disapproving their disrespect for private property, disparagement of saving, attack on the strict administration of the poor law, and their aim of complete equality and abolition of classes Social philosophy: “collectivist”; individual as function of the social organism, mind and being as production of the communities to which he belonged; individual had to be loyal to his state because the collectivism provided protection and opportunity for developing talents. Everyone has “actual will” (satisfaction of immediate desires, including impulses) and “real will” (satisfaction of desires beyond immediate ends, more permanent, including harmonising the own will with that of others). The real will thus is identified with a social way of living—with the 'general will' of the community. Ideally, a state should be in harmony with this general will, for it is then recognized by its members as rightfully exercising legislative and physical compulsion over them; in return, the state should not attempt to go beyond the general will by force. If it did, that would lead ultimately to a repressive 'machine-made utopia', faced with the dangers of disobedience and rebellion. The crucial tests of any social measure of the state were whether it had the approval of the general will, and whether it liberated fresh resources of character, will, and intelligence in the community. The Philosophical Theory of the State (1899) embodying these ideas: great achievement of British idealist philosophy Idealism: Lively intervention in professional debates concerning absolute idealism Appearance and Reality (1893) The Principle of Individuality and Value (1912), The Value and Destiny of the Individual (1913): no great advance on Bradley's brilliant work. Established “absolute idealism”: logic and the impulsion of human thought to discover ultimate reality -> absolute must exist (there, appearances of daily life only partially apprehendable) Christian deity merely an 'appearance' of the greater reality of the absolute: alienated Christian idealists (absolute = God), personal idealists (asked for more room for the individual); heaviest assault on idealism in general: at the turn of the century from the generation of Cambridge new realists, led by George Edward Moore and Bertrand Russell: idealism as ‘Germanic doctrine’, replaced with logical positivism and linguistic philosophy; but in the late twentieth century there were signs of a renewal of interest in idealism, especially among political philosophers. If you want to read one thing written by him/her, it should be: X The Philosophical Theory of the State (1899)

1923

Any political involvement? Radical wing of the Liberal Party according to himself Other societies/groups elsewhere? Charity Orgnisation Society (COS) London Ethical Society Aristotelian Society (member, vice-president, president) Associated places in St Andrews: (e.g. home, lab, favourite spot) School of philosophy Possible human interest story 1: Due to his interest in aesthetics, Bosanquet developed an active interest in the Home Arts and Industries Association; he furnished his house with parquet, tiles, wallpapers etc. Possible human interest story 2: His social theory arose from the political and social problems arising from the depression in 1880s and 1890s. Possible human interest story 3: The speech before the Fabian society marked the beginning of protracted disputes between the COS and Fabians and ‘new Liberals’ concerning methods of economic reform and remedies for pauperism. The disputes culminated in the great royal commission of inquiry into the poor laws (1905–9), in which Helen Bosanquet and Beatrice Webb played leading roles on opposite sides. Possible human interest story 4: Worked together with his wife on improving the COS and justifying its policy with principles of idealist philosophy; divided the poor into the categories of the “helpable” and the “unhelpable” rather than “deserving” and “undeserving”, which rather suggested that poverty was the people’s own fault; however, they rejected socialist ideas like free school meals etc. Connected to other people in St Andrews or elsewhere?: Thomas Hill Green Francis Herbert Bradley Biographical sources: (e.g. OxDNB, family memoir, other...) OxDNB Available images of the person: Wikipedia Possibly National Portrait Gallery