The Philosophic Whigs were a significant grouping in the nineteenth century Whig party, who drew on the ideas of the Scottish Enlightenment to bring the concept of social change and progress to British political thought.

A middle way

The ideas of the Philosophic Whigs formed themselves in opposition to two competing trends - those of the Utilitarians and the

Radicals Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

on the one hand, and those of the Tories on the other. Philosophic Whigs such as

Sir James Mackintosh Sir James Mackintosh FRS FRSE (24 October 1765 – 30 May 1832) was a Scottish jurist, Whig politician and Whig historian. His studies and sympathies embraced many interests. He was trained as a doctor and barrister, and worked also as a jo ...

or Thomas Babington Macaulay attacked the former for an abstract approach to society and a neglect of historical roots; the latter for looking back to an idealised past and neglecting historical change and developmental time. Similarly, they condemned the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

for over-abstraction on the one hand, and a slavish apeing of Roman republicanism on the other. They saw the need to adjust institutions to a changing society as a priority. Thus, during the debate over the Great Reform Act, Macaulay made good use of the concept of historical change to support the case for parliamentary reform: "Another great intellectual revolution has taken place....There is a change in society. There must be a corresponding change in the government". Their thinking passed in to the Victorian mainstream, through figures like Bagehot and Dicey who saw the need for laws to adapt to changing social structures and habits.

Criticism

Conservative thinkers saw the Whig emphasis on progress – what Scrope called the "progressive and indefinite amelioration in the circumstances of mankind" – as a dangerously Utopian illusion.

Literary examples

John Buchan in '' The Moon Endureth'' mocked a philosophic Whig for imagining himself the Emperor of Byzantium in his spare time.

References

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A middle way

Criticism

Literary examples

See also

References

Further reading