Idealism became the dominant philosphical school of thought in late nineteenth-century Britain. In this original and stimulating study, Sandra den Otter examines its roots in Greek and German thinking and locates it among the prevalent methodologies and theories of the period: empiricism and positivism, naturalism, evolution, and utilitarianism. In particular, she sets it in the context of the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century debate about a science of society and the contemporary preoccupation with 'community'. The new discipline of sociology was closely tied to the study of and search for community, and Dr den Otter shows how the idealists offered a philosophy of community to a generation particularly concerned by this notion. Dr den Otter investigates the idealist construction - by thinkers such as Bosanquet, MacKenzie, and Ritchie - of an interpretive social philosophy which none the less adopted various strands of empiricist, positivist, and even naturalist thought in its attempt to frame a social theory suited to the dilemmas of an industrialized and urbanized Britain. This study of a multifarious movement of ideas and their interaction with pioneering social groups interweaves philosophical and sociological concerns to make an important contribution to intellectual history.

Sandra M. den Otter's profile page

Sandra M. den Otter is a Lecturer in History at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario.

'original and admirable study ... in its essentials her findings will stand firm ... Her book is well researched, using the expected source materials and tapping some informative new ones as well. It displays the philosophical insight as well as historical sense essential for an enterprise of this nature ... Her conclusions are fair, cautious and nuanced. Altogether she significantly expands our understanding and appreciation of the idealists and of their distinctive contribution to social philosophy at this time.' Peter Nicholson, Victorian Studies, Autumn 1997

'fine study' Christopher Kent, University of Saskatchewan, Canadian Journal of Hisotry, XXXII, April 1997