If we employ the conception of historic relativity, nothing is clearer than that the conception of liberty is always relative to forces that at a given time and place are increasingly felt to be oppressive.
I think that this quote might showcase the whole point of the paper.
After all, our accumulated knowledge of man and his ways, furnished by anthropology, history, sociology and psychology, is vast, even though it be sparse in comparison with our knowledge of°physi-cal physical nature.
Why?
Social and historical inquiry is in fact a part of the social process itself, not something outside of it.
Therefore it is not about the outcomes? I think that this is interesting and very important as understanding what movements and what social thoughts were prevalent are necessary to understand why things are the way they are today.
Spencer joined hands with the idealistic doctrine of Hegel
I wish there was a bit more basic information already provided about Spencer and Hegel.
laissez faire was applied to intelligence as well
How? Besides the scientific method, are there any examples?
"rugged individuals"
Reminds me of the "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" mentality that assumes it is entirely someone's fault for being poor, regardless of their life circumstances.
"time is the only mediator," and he opposed the use of organized social power to promote equalization on the ground that such action would disturb the "security" that is even a greater°condi-tion condition of happiness than is equality.
Action could have likely been useful in small amounts in order to prevent the wealth hoard that is faced in the U.S. today.
ten million dollars by one person. But he believed that the régime of economic liberty would of itself tend in the direction of greater equalization.
This has not, in fact, happened given the existence of the top 1% wealthiest people in America. Though he is right that greater economic equalization would lead to a happier society, and additionally a healthier economy as wealth would not be hoarded and would be regularly spent back into the over all economy.
many cases personal profit can be better served by maintaining artificial scarcity
artificial scarcity of diamonds is an active example of this in the real world
Because the liberals failed to make a distinction between purely formal or legal liberty and effective liberty of thought and°ac-tion, action, the history of the last one hundred years is the history of non-fulfillment of their predictions
Struggles to get freedom for black people, which they got legally, but people did not view them as human and therefore treated them as such. This resulted in a long fight and delay of basic rights.
uality and intelligence were themselves historically conditioned, and were relevant only to their own time
That freeing slaves would not give them many rights or actually "free them". They would be freed without any resources and would not gain the right to vote for many decades.
free him from his own slavish instincts
Many voters cast ballots purely based on what will benefit them the most, rather than what would benefit society as a whole.
piritual authority that would nurture and direct the inner as well as the outer life of individuals
These mentions of spiritualism in relation to social problems seem to be referring to an idea held by some that the country should be run in relation to a singular religion held by all citizens; of which is not an idea supported by the constitution.
he learned that institutions and traditions are°indis-pensable indispensable to the nurture of what is deepest and most worthy in human life
This "most worthy" thing being community and relationships
personal sustenance and growth
Isn't personal sustenance and growth a form of liberation?
He found something profoundly empty in the spectacle he imaginatively faced.
I find it interesting and a bit confusing in regards to the idea that liberation would feel empty.
nineteenth century
Should be noted to avoid confusion that the 19th century was the 1800s, so this is referring to slavery.