Social evolution and political theory / by Leonard T. Hobhouse.

  • Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Social evolution and political theory / by Leonard T. Hobhouse. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    and incomplete. It yields no assured social harmony. The question is whether it does, upon the whole, tend to realize the conditions out of which when complete a harmony would emerge. Is there among the changes that we note a gradual evolution of these conditions, or is an advance in one respect, at one period or in one society, balanced by losses in other respects, at other periods or in other societies ? The answer is not simple, but upon the whole it is in one respect negative and in another positive. Progress so conceived is not continu¬ ous, but within the area covered by our investigation it is real, and in fact fundamental. Thus, if we compare the first and last terms of the series, we recognize a series of changes of fundamental importance for the advancement of true social coopera¬ tion. We note first the extension of order, the widening of the social unit from the primitive local group outwards, until for certain purposes it begins to extend itself to the whole of mankind. We note next the increased firmness and solidity of this order, the evolution of im¬ partial justice, which is the basis of all healthy social union, and its extension till it grasps the whole of the community under a common rule. We find the concep¬ tion of a common life advanced by the destruction of the manifold forms of group morality, giving place to the principle of full membership of the extended community for all who dwell within its borders. We find at the same time a more liberal provision for the free movement and spontaneous effort of the constituent parts of the community, giving concrete reality to the principle that the most stable order is that which is based upon free¬ dom. We find a more general enforcement of mutual
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