Jul 31, 2005

Idea of Liberty

by Liberty and Power

I've just posted Harriet Martineau's trenchant "Idea of Liberty" online on CLASSical Liberalism. This is the first online edition of Martineau's"Idea of Liberty" excerpted from her pathbreaking 1838 work on the methodology of sociological research. Long before Marx, Weber and Durkheim, the classical liberal Martineau developed the scientific tools for studying societies. In"Idea of Liberty," she provides a perceptive and persuasive method for analyzing the level of the culture of liberty within any society."Idea of Liberty" is as applicable today as it was in 1838.
Just a thought.
Just Ken
CLASSical Liberalism

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Kenneth R Gregg - 8/7/2005

You're certainly welcome, Wendy.
There has been a growing interest in Martineau in the past couple of years and am more than happy to reprint this essay. Martineau is one of the unrecognized founders of sociology. Her book on August Comte's sociology is well recognized as one of the founding works in the field, and Comte was so impressed with it that he reprinted it into french for his European followers! She made the 3 vol. work of Comte into a coherent whole, integrating many disparate ideas of his into one of the most popular works in sociology. Had she been able to provide for herself and her family in academia, perhaps sociology would be classical liberal rather than a pesthole of socialism!

Just a thought.
Just Ken
kgregglv@cox.net

Wendy McElroy - 8/3/2005

Wonderful, Ken. Thanks so much for bringing this jewel into public view.