Overview
- Clarifies existing scholarship on the relationship between early nineteenth- century British socialism and religion
- Identifies how early British socialists offer a re-conception of the nature of ‘religion’
- Shows how their ambitions of religious reform were grounded in their philosophy of socialism
Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Utopianism (PASU)
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About this book
This book challenges existing accounts of the role of religion in early-nineteenth-century British socialism. Against scholarly interpretations which have identified Owenite socialists as anti-religious or as imitating Christianity, this book argues that Owenites offer a re-conception of the nature of ‘religion’ as advanced through knowledge of the natural and social world, as a prospective source of solidarity which could serve as the unifying bond for communities, and as constituted by ethical conduct. It shows how this re-conception was formed through a sincere and considered reflection upon the problem of religious truth and was shaped by the particular religious context of early-nineteenth-century Britain. It then demonstrates the importance of this reimagination of religion to their understanding of socialism. Their religious interests were not an eccentric adornment to their socialism, an outdated residue yet to be shed and encumbering the development of a mature socialism, or merely instrumental to their temporal goals. Instead, Owenite ambitions of religious reform were grounded in the philosophical preoccupations which animated their socialism.
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Keywords
Table of contents (7 chapters)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Edward Lucas completed his DPhil at the University of Oxford, UK and now works for the UK government.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Early British Socialism and the ‘Religion of the New Moral World’
Authors: Edward Lucas
Series Title: Palgrave Studies in Utopianism
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-23940-3
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: History, History (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-23939-7Published: 27 April 2023
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-23942-7Published: 28 April 2024
eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-23940-3Published: 26 April 2023
Series ISSN: 2946-4471
Series E-ISSN: 2946-448X
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: V, 278
Topics: History of Britain and Ireland, History of Religion, Social History, Cultural History, Political History