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The liberal Hegelianism of Edward Caird: or, how to transcend the social economics of Kant and the romantics

Tyler, Colin

Authors



Contributors

James Connelly
Editor

Abstract

Purpose: The paper establishes that Edward Caird developed a distinctive form of liberal Hegelianism out of his critical responses to Kant, the romantic tradition of Rousseau, Goethe and Wordsworth and indeed Hegel himself. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents a philosophical reconstruction of Caird's social economics that is based on a close reading of a very wide range of Caird's writings including his recently published lectures on social ethics and political economy. Findings: Caird's theory of historical development underpinned his writings on social economics. One of his greatest debts in this regard was to his interpretation of the romantics, which introduced a rich conception of higher human capacities into his critical analysis of capitalism. When combined with his critique of Kantian formalism, this led Caird towards Hegel. Yet, Caird's concerns regarding corporatism's stultifying tendencies led him to develop a dynamic form of liberal Hegelianism, which placed far greater trust than had Hegel in the ability of free conscientious citizens to restructure and enrich established social categories (classes, professions, gender roles and so on) and the system of nations which those categories helped to constitute. Practical implications: If Caird's liberal Hegelianism were to be adopted today, we could live in much freer, fairer and enriching communities than we do at present. Originality/value: Edward Caird has been wrongly neglected in intellectual histories of Anglo-American political theory, and while his writings on Kant's critical philosophy have received some scholarly attention, his critique of romanticism has never received the attention it deserves. This also draws on manuscripts that have been published only within the past five years, having been edited for the first time by the author of this paper.

Citation

Tyler, C. (2010). The liberal Hegelianism of Edward Caird: or, how to transcend the social economics of Kant and the romantics. International Journal of Social Economics, 37(11), 852-866. https://doi.org/10.1108/03068291011082829

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Sep 28, 2010
Deposit Date Nov 13, 2014
Publicly Available Date Nov 13, 2014
Journal International journal of social economics
Print ISSN 0306-8293
Publisher Emerald
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 37
Issue 11
Pages 852-866
DOI https://doi.org/10.1108/03068291011082829
Keywords Caird, Edward, 1835-1908
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/462168
Additional Information Authors' accepted manuscript of article: Colin Tyler, (2010) "The liberal Hegelianism of Edward Caird: Or, how to transcend the social economics of Kant and the romantics", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 37 Iss: 11, pp.852 - 866
Contract Date Nov 13, 2014

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