Against idealism ? L. T. Hobhouse’s sociological justification of New Liberalism

International audienceL.T. Hobhouse was one of the leading New Liberal theorists. Although his work unmistakably points at a strong idealist influence, with such concepts as harmony reflecting an organicist vision of reality, he became an outspoken critic of idealism during the First World War, because he believed it to be too statist and, ultimately, a threat to individual freedom. He then developed an evolutionist sociology that can be seen as an attempt to provide an alternative scientific basis to idealism, retaining much of Green’s political conclusions