‘God, man, and nature’: Neo-Aristotelian naturalism in T.H. Green’s faith and philosophy

Tyler, Colin

Abstract

Establishing Thomas Hill Green’s naturalism and the philosophical redundancy of his religious beliefs is profoundly important when understanding his philosophy and, by extension, when understanding British idealism as a philosophical movement. This article is significant for several reasons. Firstly, it focuses particularly on Mander’s seminal history of the British idealists as well as his other detailed analysis of the nature and significance of the eternal consciousness in Green’s philosophy. Secondly, it emphasises Green’s development of a constructivist, personalised, perspectival account of philosophical knowledge that radically undermines the readings developed by Mander, Sprigge and Dimova-Cookson. Thirdly, it extends the perspectival reading of Green’s thought by considering the relationship between his religious writings and his philosophy, thereby highlighting significant yet underappreciated facets of his position. To begin to do this, section two analyses the interrelated concepts of God and man in Green’s religious writings as they have been discussed by Nicholson, Mander and myself. Section three analyses the philosophical themes within Green’s religious thought. Section four highlights Green’s rejection of all forms of ‘materialist naturalism’ and his reliance on a form of neo-Aristotelian naturalism, before rejecting the potential objection that the resulting refinement of Green’s philosophy is reductionist.

Citation

Tyler, C. (2019). ‘God, man, and nature’: Neo-Aristotelian naturalism in T.H. Green’s faith and philosophy. Collingwood and British Idealism Studies, 25(1), 45-73

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 19, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Jan 1, 2019
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Jan 8, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 2, 2021
• Print ISSN: 1744-9413
• Publisher: Imprint Academic
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 25
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 2
• Pages: 45-73
• Series ISSN: 1744-9413
• Keywords: British idealism; Aristotle; naturalism; God
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/1208795
• Publisher URL: https://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/imp/col/2019/00000025/00000001/art00003
• Additional Information: Article has no doi. Accepted for publication in Collingwood and British Idealism Studies
• Contract Date: Jan 8, 2019