Analysis Of Hobhouse's Social Harmony And Ideas

Hobhouse was not the most brilliant thinker in the history of English political thoughts, but his social harmony thoughts played a great role in the history of Western political thoughts. As a representative of New-liberalism and with social harmony as the base, he set a new political ideas different from the traditional liberalism. This paper discusses it with the aspects of social harmony and its value, positive liberty, state concept.The first part exposes Hobhouses's social harmony thoughts. Hobhouse proposes the social harmony thoughts as the center content of his whole theory. He proposes that the individual and society, the part and the overall are an interdependent organic system, that they are harmonious, he considers the implementation of harmony as the social ideal. This paper discusses the harmony thoughts between harmony and good, difference, liberty, order. He also proposes that the social harmony thoughts is not implemented by human but an assumed moral harmony.The second part discusses Hobhouse's positive liberty. Hobhouse fully affirms the role traditional liberalism plays and points its short points, i.e. negative liberty, he proposes the idea of positive liberty as well. The content of his positive liberty is core-human's free development. This section discusses the relation between positive liberty and social harmony with three aspects of liberty and law, liberty and equality, equality and justice. It concludes that positive liberty with social harmony principle as its base is the strong supports of Hobhouse's political thoughts and the effective protection of implementing social harmony.The third part exposes the selection of country, country function, constraints on state power and value. Hobhouse thinks that the selection of country is an evolutionary process of history, however, he considers abstract spirits and moral force the basis of the selection of country. Also, he thinks the state should intervene positively with the aim of the implementation of social harmony. While Hobhouse proposes country's intervention as well as the constraints on state power, i.e. expanding the powers of citizens. This paper exposes that Hobhouse's state theory is with both a theoretical significance and an aspirations of Utopian Ethics nations, that it shows strong moral color.The fourth part is the analysis on the value of social harmony thoughts. This part contains two minor section: the first discusses the value of harmony thoughts. the second is mainly the evaluation on his core thoughts, especially on the abortion of community to the theory. From these , it reflects his position of efforts on implement harmony.