Thomas Hill Green

For other people named Thomas Hill, see Thomas Hill ethics and political philosophy.
(disambiguation).
Most of his major works were published posthumously,
including his lay sermons on Faith and The Witness of
Thomas Hill Green (7 April 1836 15 March 1882) was God, the essay On the Dierent Senses of Freedom as
an English philosopher, political radical and temperance Applied to Will and the Moral Progress of Man, Prolegomreformer, and a member of the British idealism move- ena to Ethics, Lectures on the Principles of Political Obligament. Like all the British idealists, Green was inuenced tion, and the Lecture on Liberal Legislation and Freedom
by the metaphysical historicism of G.W.F. Hegel. He was of Contract.
one of the thinkers behind the philosophy of social liber- Green died of blood poisoning on 15 March 1882, age
alism.
45. In addition to Greens friends from his academic life,

approximately two thousand local townspeople attended

his funeral.

Life

He helped to found the City of Oxford High School for

Boys.

Green was born at Birkin, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, where his father was rector. On the paternal side, he was descended from Thomas Cromwell.
2 Thought
His education was conducted entirely at home until, at
the age of 14, he entered Rugby, where he remained for
Humes empiricism and biological evolution (including
ve years.
Herbert Spencer) were chief features in English thought
In 1855, he became an undergraduate member of Balliol during the third quarter of the 19th century. Green repreCollege, Oxford, and was elected fellow in 1860. He be- sents primarily the reaction against such doctrines. Green
gan a life of teaching (mainly philosophical) in the uni- argued that when these doctrines were carried to their logversity rst as college tutor, afterwards, from 1878 until ical conclusion, they not only rendered all philosophy fuhis death, as Whytes Professor of Moral Philosophy.
tile, but were fatal to practical life. By reducing the huThe lectures he delivered as professor form the substance man mind to a series of unrelated atomic sensations, these
of his two most important works, viz, the Prolegomena to related teachings destroyed the possibility of knowledge,
Ethics and the Lectures on the Principles of Political Obli- he argued. These teachings were especially important for
gation,which contain the whole of his positive construc- Green to refute because they had underpinned the contive teaching. These works were not published until after ception of mind that was held by the nascent science of
his death, but Greens views were previously known in- psychology. Green tried to deate the pretensions of psydirectly through the Introduction to the standard edition chologists who had claimed that their young eld would
of Hume's works by Green and T. H. Grose, fellow of provide a scientic replacement for traditional epistemolQueens College, in which the doctrine of the English ogy and metaphysics.[3]
or empirical philosophy was exhaustively examined.[1] Green further objected that such empiricists represented
Green was involved in local politics for many years, a person as a being who is simply the result of natural
through the University, temperance societies and the lo- forces, and thereby made conduct, or any theory of concal Oxford Liberal association. During the passage of the duct, meaningless; for life in any human, intelligible sense
Second Reform Act, he campaigned for the franchise to implies a personal self that (1) knows what to do, and (2)
be extended to all men living in boroughs, even if they did has power to do it. Green was thus driven, not theoretinot own real property. In this sense, Greens position was cally, but as a practical necessity, to raise again the whole
more radical than that of most other Advanced Liberals, question of humankind in relation to nature. When (he
including Gladstone.
held) we have discovered what a person in themselves are,
It was in the context of his Liberal party activities that in
1881 Green gave what became one of his most famous
statements of his liberal political philosophy, the Lecture on Liberal Legislation and Freedom of Contract.[2] At
this time, he was also lecturing on religion, epistemology,

and what their relation to their environment is, we shall

then know their functionwhat they are tted to do. In
the light of this knowledge, we shall be able to formulate
the moral code, which, in turn, will serve as a criterion of
actual civic and social institutions. These form, naturally
1

2 THOUGHT

and necessarily, the objective expression of moral ideas, peculiar conditions of social lifethat investigation into
and it is in some civic or social whole that the moral ideal human nature which metaphysics began. The faculty emmust nally take concrete shape.
ployed in this further investigation is no separate moral
faculty, but that same reason which is the source of all
our knowledge ethical and other.

2.1

What is man?

To ask What is man?" is to ask What is experience?" for

experience means that of which I am conscious. The facts
of consciousness are the only facts that, to begin with,
we are justied in asserting to exist. On the other hand,
they are valid evidence for whatever is necessary to their
own explanation, i.e. for whatever is logically involved
in them. Now the most striking characteristic of humans,
that in fact which marks them specially, as contrasted with
other animals, is self-consciousness. The simplest mental act into which we can analyse the operations of the human mindthe act of sense-perceptionis never merely
a change, physical or psychical, but is the consciousness
of a change.
Human experience consists, not of processes in an animal organism, but of these processes recognised as such.
That which we perceive is from the outset an apprehended
factthat is to say, it cannot be analysed into isolated elements (so-called sensations) which, as such, are not constituents of consciousness at all, but exist from the rst as
a synthesis of relations in a consciousness which keeps
distinct the self and the various elements of the object, though holding all together in the unity of the act
of perception. In other words, the whole mental structure we call knowledge consists, in its simplest equally
with its most complex constituents, of the work of the
mind. Locke and Hume held that the work of the mind
was eo ipso [by that very act] unreal because it was made
by humans and not given to humans. It thus represented a subjective creation, not an objective fact. But
this consequence follows only upon the assumption that
the work of the mind is arbitrary, an assumption shown
to be unjustied by the results of exact science, with
the distinction, universally recognised, which such science draws between truth and falsehood, between the real
and mere ideas. This (obviously valid) distinction logically involves the consequence that the object, or content, of knowledge, viz., reality, is an intelligible ideal
reality, a system of thought relations, a spiritual cosmos.
How is the existence of this ideal whole to be accounted
for? Only by the existence of some principle which renders all relations possible and is itself determined by none
of them"; an eternal self-consciousness which knows in
whole what we know in part. To God the world is, to
humans the world becomes. Human experience is God
gradually made manifest.

2.2

Moral philosophy

Self-reection gradually reveals to us human capacity,

human function, with, consequently, human responsibility. It brings out into clear consciousness certain potentialities in the realisation of which humans true good
must consist. As the result of this analysis, combined with
an investigation into the surroundings humans live in, a
contenta moral codebecomes gradually evolved.
Personal good is perceived to be realisable only by making real and actual the conceptions thus arrived at. So long
as these remain potential or ideal, they form the motive
of action; motive consisting always in the idea of some
end or good that humans present to themselves as an
end in the attainment of which he would be satised; that
is, in the realisation of which he would nd his true self.
The determination to realise the self in some denite way
constitutes an act of will, which, as thus constituted, is
neither arbitrary nor externally determined. For the motive which may be said to be its cause lies in the person
himself, and the identication of the self with such a motive is a self-determination, which is at once both rational
and free. The freedom of man is constituted, not by a
supposed ability to do anything he may choose, but in the
power to identify himself with that true good that reason
reveals to him as his true good.
This good consists in the realisation of personal character;
hence the nal good, i.e. the moral ideal, as a whole, can
be realised only in some society of persons who, while
remaining ends to themselves in the sense that their individuality is not lost but rendered more perfect, nd this
perfection attainable only when the separate individualities are integrated as part of a social whole.
Society is as necessary to form persons as persons are to
constitute society. Social union is the indispensable condition of the development of the special capacities of its
individual members. Human self-perfection cannot be
gained in isolation; it is attainable only in inter-relation
with fellow-citizens in the social community.
The law of our being, so revealed, involves in its turn civic
or political duties. Moral goodness cannot be limited to,
still less constituted by, the cultivation of self-regarding
virtues, but consists in the attempt to realise in practice
that moral ideal that self-analysis has revealed to us as our
ideal. From this fact arises the ground of political obligation, because the institutions of political or civic life are
the concrete embodiment of moral ideas in terms of our
day and generation. But, since society exists only for the
proper development of Persons, we have a criterion by
which to test these institutionsnamely, do they, or do
they not, contribute to the development of moral character in the individual citizens?

Carrying on the same analytical method into the area of

moral philosophy, Green argued that ethics applies to the It is obvious that the nal moral ideal is not realised in any

2.4

Inuence of Greens thought

body of civic institutions actually existing, but the same exercise their conscientious wills in particular contingent
analysis that demonstrates this deciency points out the circumstances, as only in this way was it possible to fosdirection that a true development will take.
ter individual self-realisation in the long-run. Deciding
Hence arises the conception of rights and duties that on the distribution of responsibilities was more a matter
should be maintained by law, as opposed to those actually for practical politics than for ethical or political philosomaintained; with the further consequence that it may be- phy. Experience may show that the local and municipal
come occasionally a moral duty to rebel against the state levels are unable to control the harmful inuences of, say,
in the interest of the state itselfthat is, in order better the brewery industry. When it did show this, the national
state should take responsibility for this area of public polto subserve that end or function that constitutes the raison
d'tre of the state. There exists a general will that is a icy.
desire for a common good that cannot be easily reconciled
as there is an antagonism between the common good
and the private good": such as: "... interest in the common good, in some of its various forms, is necessary to
produce that good, and to neutralise or render useful other
desires and interests. Its basis is can be conceived as coercive authority imposed upon the citizens from without
or it can be seen as a necessary restriction of individual
liberty in light of a social contract, but this consists in the
spiritual recognition or metaphysics, on the part of the citizens, of what constitutes their true nature, some conceptions and complicating factors are elaborating questions
concerning: Will, not force, is the basis of the state.,
Citizen Rights Against the State, Private Rights. The
Right to Life and Liberty, The Right of the State Over
the Individual in War, The Right of the State to Punish, The Right of the State to Promote Morality ", The
Right of the State in Regard to Property, and The Right
of the State in Regard to the Family.

2.3

Philosophy of state action

Green believed that the state should foster and protect the
social, political and economic environments in which individuals will have the best chance of acting according
to their consciences. But the state must be careful when
deciding which liberties to curtail and in which ways to
curtail them. Over-enthusiastic or clumsy state intervention could easily close down opportunities for conscientious action thereby stiing the moral development of the
individual. The state should intervene only where there is
a clear, proven and strong tendency of a liberty to enslave
the individual. Even when such a hazard had been identied, Green tended to favour action by the aected community itself rather than national state action itself local councils and municipal authorities tended to produce
measures that were more imaginative and better suited to
the daily reality of a social problem. Hence he favoured
the local option where local people decided on the issuing of liquor licences in their area, through their town
councils.[4]

Green argued that the ultimate power to decide on the allocation of such tasks should rest with the national state
(in Britain, for instance, embodied in Parliament). The
national state itself is legitimate for Green to the extent
that it upholds a system of rights and obligations that is
most likely to foster individual self-realisation. Yet, the
most appropriate structure of this system is determined
neither by purely political calculation nor by philosophical speculation. It is more accurate to say that it arose
from the underlying conceptual and normative structure
of ones particular society.

2.4 Inuence of Greens thought

Greens teaching was, directly and indirectly, the most
potent philosophical inuence in England during the last
quarter of the 19th century, while his enthusiasm for a
common citizenship, and his personal example in practical municipal life, inspired much of the eort made in the
years succeeding his death to bring the universities more
into touch with the people, and to break down the rigour
of class distinctions. His ideas spread to the University
of St. Andrews through the inuence of Prof. David
George Ritchie, a former student of his, who eventually
helped found the Aristotelian Society. John Dewey wrote
a number of early essays on Greens thought, including
Self-Realization as the Moral Ideal.
Green was directly cited by many social liberal politicians, such as Herbert Samuel and H. H. Asquith, as an
inuence on their thought. It is no coincidence that these
politicians were educated at Balliol College, Oxford. Roy
Hattersley called for Greens work to be applied to the
problems of 21st century Britain.[5]

3 Works and commentary

Greens most important treatisethe Prolegomena to

Ethics, practically complete in manuscript at his death
was published in the year following, under the editorship
Green stressed the need for specic solutions to be tai- of A. C. Bradley (4th ed., 1899). Shortly afterwards, R.
lored to t specic problems. He stressed that there are L. Nettleship's standard edition of his Works (exclusive
no eternal solutions, no timeless division of responsibili- of the Prolegomena) appeared in three volumes:
ties between national and local governmental units. The
1. Reprints of Greens criticism of Hume, Spencer, G.
distribution of responsibilities should be guided by the
H. Lewes
imperative to enable as many individuals as possible to

7 FURTHER READING
2. Lectures on Kant, on Logic, on the Principles of Political Obligation
3. Miscellanies, preceded by a full Memoir by the Editor.

All three volumes are available for download at Internet

Archive
The Principles of Political Obligation was afterwards
published in separate form. A criticism of NeoHegelianism will be found in Andrew Seth (Pringle Pattison), Hegelianism and Personality (1887).
Hume and Locke, Apollo Editions, 425 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016, 1968 (Reprint
of Thomas Y. Crowell Company edition). Contains
Greens "Introductions to Humes Treatise of Human Nature" and also Greens Introduction to the
Moral Part of Humes Treatise"

7 Further reading
Articles in Mind (January and April 1884) by A. J.
Balfour and Henry Sidgwick
In the Academy (xxviii. 242 and xxv. 297) by S.
Alexander
S. S. Laurie The Metaphysics of T H Green an article in the Philosophical Review (Volume vi, March
1897) pages 113 to 131
W. H. Fairbrother, Philosophy of T.H. Green (London and New York, 1896)
David George Ritchie, The Principles of State Interference (London, 1891)
Henry Sidgwick, Lectures on the ethics of T.H.
Green, Mr. Herbert Spencer, and J. Martineau (London, 1902)
Henry Sidgwick, Lectures on the Philosophy of Kant
(London, 1905)

See also
Contributions to liberal theory
Liberalism

References

[1] 'The Philosophical Works of David Hume, ed. by T.H.

Green and T.H. Grose, 4 vol. (188286)
[2]
[3] Alexander Klein, The Rise of Empiricism: William James,
Thomas Hill Green, and the Struggle over Psychology
[4] Nicholson, P. P., T. H. Green and State Action: Liquor
Legislation, History of Political Thought, 6 (1985), 517
50. Reprinted in A. Vincent, ed., The Philosophy of T.
H. Green (Aldershot: Gower, 1986), pp. 76103
[5] New Statesman Forgotten favourites Politics of aspiration. T H Green was the rst philosopher of social justice. Todays cabinet ministers would do well to read him,
writes Roy Hattersley

Sources
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Green, Thomas
Hill". Encyclopdia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

J. H. Muirhead, The Service of the State: Four Lectures on the Political Teaching of T. H. Green (1908)
A. W. Benn, The History of English Rationalism in
the Nineteenth Century (1906), volume ii, pp. 401
foll.
Bauman, Richard (2002). Human Rights in Ancient
Rome. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-17320-9.
David O. Brink (2003) Perfectionism and the Common Good: Themes in the Philosophy of T. H. Green,
Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Carter, Matt (2003). T.H.Green and the Development of Ethical Socialism. ISBN 978-0-907845-324.
Morrow, John (2007). T.H. Green. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7546-2554-4.
Dimova-Cookson, Maria; Mander, William J.
(2006). T. H. Green: Ethics, Metaphysics, and Political Philosophy. Oxford University Press on Demand. ISBN 978-0-19-927166-5.
Dimova-Cookson, Maria (2001). T.H. Greens
Moral and Political Philosophy: A Phenomenological Perspective. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0333-91445-8.
M. Freeden (1978) The New Liberalism: An ideology of Social Reform, Oxford, Clarendon Press.
I.M. Greengarten (1981) Thomas Hill-Green and
the Development of Liberal-Democratic Thought,
University of Toronto Press.

5
Avital Simhony (1993) T.H. Green: the common good society, History of Political Thought
14(2):225247.
Georey Thomas (1988) The Moral Philosophy of
T. H. Green (Oxford and New York).

External links
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry
Grave of Thomas Hill Green and Charlotte Byron
Green in St Sepulchres Cemetery, Oxford, with biography

Works online
Works by Thomas Hill Green at Project Gutenberg
Works by or about Thomas Hill Green at Internet
Archive
Prolegomena to Ethics (1883)
Lectures on the Principles of Political Obligation
(1883)
Works (excluding Prolegomena to Ethics) edited by
R L Nettleship in three volumes (rst published
1885): Volume 1: Introductions to Humes Treatise;
and Mr Herbert Spencer and Mr G H Lewes: their
application of the doctrine of Evolution to Thought;
Volume 2: Lectures: on (a) the Philosophy of Kant;
(b) Logic, including J S Mills System of Logic; (c)
the dierent senses of freedom as applied to will and
to moral progress; and (d) the Principles of Political
Obligation; and Volume 3: Miscellanies and Memoir

9 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.1

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Thomas Hill Green Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas%20Hill%20Green?oldid=654105089 Contributors: Rbrwr, Eric119,

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Mild Bill Hiccup, SchreiberBike, DumZiBoT, Personman 4, MystBot, Good Olfactory, Addbot, Chzz, Lightbot, Zorrobot, Luckas-bot,
Bob Burkhardt, Omnipaedista, Green Cardamom, Jauhienij, Dinamik-bot, RjwilmsiBot, WikitanvirBot, Werieth, ZroBot, PBS-AWB,
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9.3

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