Liberalism

Only through the perfecting of social restraint can mankind as a whole achieve the greatest personal freedom. This is the belief of L.T. Hobhouse, whose work carries the clear and humane thought of liberalism forward into the twentieth century. Liberalism is both a description and a history of the political philosophy to which Hobhouse contributed, and which he practiced and taught. In this book, the nineteenth-century concept of liberalism is reviewed, then amplified to meet the requirements of twentieth-century society. Hobhouse observed the rapid unification of the physical world, and foresaw that "its unity must ultimately be reflected in political institutions." His philosophy, accordingly, is world-wide in scope, as well as precise in practical detail and profound in its sympathy for the individual. Liberalism, which stresses the view of society as a whole, follows Hobhouse's own dictum: "We need less of the fanatics of sectarianism and more of the unifying mind."