Elie Halevy Republican Liberalism Confronts the Era of Tyranny : Republican Liberalism Confronts the Era ofTyranny

An intellectual biography of the renowned and influential observer of the "era of tyrannies" Élie Halévy (1870-1937) was one of the most respected and influential intellectuals of the French Third Republic. In this densely contextualized biography, K. Steven Vincent describes how Halévy, best remembered as the historian of British Utilitarianism and nineteenth-century English history, was also a persistent, acute, and increasingly anxious observer of society in a period defined by industrialization and imperialism and by what Halévy famously called the "era of tyrannies." Vincent distinguishes three broad phases in the development of Halévy's thought. In the first, Halévy brought his version of neo-Kantianism to debates with sociologists and philosophers and to his study of English Utilitarianism. He forged ties with Xavier Léon, Léon Brunschvicg, and Alain (Émile-Auguste Chartier), life-long intellectual interlocutors. Together they founded the Revue de métaphysique et de morale , a continuing venue for Halévy's reflections. The Dreyfus Affair, Vincent argues, caused Halévy to shift his focus from philosophy to history and from metaphysics to politics. He became a philosopher-historian, less interested in abstract neo-Kantianism and more in real-world action, less given to rarified debates over truth and more to investigation of how theories and their applications were situated within broader political, economic, and cultural movements. World War I and its destabilizing effects provoked the third phase, Vincent explains. As he watched reason recede before rabid nationalism and a pox of political enthusiasms, Halévy sounded the alarm about liberal democracy's vulnerabilities. Vincent situates Halévy on the unsteady and narrowing middle ground between state socialism and fascism, showing how he defended liberalism while, at the same time, appreciating socialists' analyses of capitalism's negative impact and their calls for reform and greater economic equality. Through his analysis of Halévy's life and works, Vincent illuminates the complexity of the Third Republic's philosophical, historical, and political thought and concludes with an incisive summary of the distinctive nature of French liberalism. An intellectual biography of the renowned and influential observer of the "era of tyrannies"Élie Halévy (1870-1937) was one of the most respected and influential intellectuals of the French Third Republic. In this densely contextualized biography, K. Steven Vincent describes how Halévy, best remembered as the historian of British Utilitarianism and nineteenth-century English history, was also a persistent, acute, and increasingly anxious observer of society in a period defined by industrialization and imperialism and by what Halévy famously called the "era of tyrannies."Vincent distinguishes three broad phases in the development of Halévy's thought. In the first, Halévy brought his version of neo-Kantianism to debates with sociologists and philosophers and to his study of English Utilitarianism. He forged ties with Xavier Léon, Léon Brunschvicg, and Alain (Émile-Auguste Chartier), life-long intellectual interlocutors. Together they founded the Revue de métaphysique et de morale, a continuing venue for Halévy's reflections. The Dreyfus Affair, Vincent argues, caused Halévy to shift his focus from philosophy to history and from metaphysics to politics. He became a philosopher-historian, less interested in abstract neo-Kantianism and more in real-world action, less given to rarified debates over truth and more to investigation of how theories and their applications were situated within broader political, economic, and cultural movements. World War I and its destabilizing effects provoked the third phase, Vincent explains. As he watched reason recede before rabid nationalism and a pox of political enthusiasms, Halévy sounded the alarm about liberal democracy's vulnerabilities.Vincent situates Halévy on the unsteady and narrowing middle ground between state socialism and fascism, showing how he defended liberalism while, at the same time, appreciating socialists' analyses of capitalism's negative impact and their calls for reform and greater economic equality. Through his analysis of Halévy's life and works, Vincent illuminates the complexity of the Third Republic's philosophical, historical, and political thought and concludes with an incisive summary of the distinctive nature of French liberalism. Elie Halevy (1870-1937) was one of the most respected and influential intellectuals of the French Third Republic. In this densely contextualized biography, K. Steven Vincent describes how Halevy, best remembered as the historian of British Utilitarianism and nineteenth-century English history, was also a persistent, acute, and increasingly anxious observer of society in a period defined by industrialization and imperialism and by what Halevy famously called the "era of tyrannies."Vincent distinguishes three broad phases in the development of Halevy's thought. In the first, Halevy brought his version of neo-Kantianism to debates with sociologists and philosophers and to his study of English Utilitarianism. He forged ties with Xavier Leon, Leon Brunschvicg, and Alain (Emile-Auguste Chartier), life-long intellectual interlocutors. Together they founded the Revue de metaphysique et de morale, a continuing venue for Halevy's reflections. The Dreyfus Affair, Vincent argues, caused Halevy to shift his focus from philosophy to history and from metaphysics to politics. He became a philosopher-historian, less interested in abstract neo-Kantianism and more in real-world action, less given to rarified debates over truth and more to investigation of how theories and their applications were situated within broader political, economic, and cultural movements. World War I and its destabilizing effects provoked the third phase, Vincent explains. As he watched reason recede before rabid nationalism and a pox of political enthusiasms, Halevy sounded the alarm about liberal democracy's vulnerabilities **An intellectual biography of the renowned and influential observer of the "era of tyrannies"** Vincent distinguishes three broad phases in the development of Halévy's thought. In the first, Halévy brought his version of neo-Kantianism to debates with sociologists and philosophers and to his study of English Utilitarianism. He forged ties with Xavier Léon, Léon Brunschvicg, and Alain (Émile-Auguste Chartier), life-long intellectual interlocutors. Together they founded the __Revue de métaphysique et de morale__, a continuing venue for Halévy's reflections. The Dreyfus Affair, Vincent argues, caused Halévy to shift his focus from philosophy to history and from metaphysics to politics. He became a philosopher-historian, less interested in abstract neo-Kantianism and more in real-world action, less given to rarified debates over truth and more to investigation of how theories and their applications were situated within broader political, economic, and cultural movements. World War I and its destabilizing effects provoked the third phase, Vincent explains. As he watched reason recede before rabid nationalism and a pox of political enthusiasms, Halévy sounded the alarm about liberal democracy's vulnerabilities. Cover Élie Halévy Title Copyright Dedication CONTENTS Introduction PART I. NEO-KANTIANISM AND BRITISH RADICALISM Chapter 1. The Early Years Chapter 2. Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale Chapter 3. British Utilitarianism (1896–1904) PART II. FRENCH POLITICS, EUROPEAN SOCIALISM, AND BRITISH HISTORY Chapter 4. The Dreyfus Affair (1897–1901) Chapter 5. L’École Libre des Sciences Politiques and Socialism (1902–1914) Chapter 6. British Affairs: Empire, Methodism, and English Socialists (1905–1914) PART III. WORLD WAR I AND THE STATE OF EUROPE IN THE ERA Of TYRANNIES Chapter 7. World War I (1914–1918) Chapter 8. Post War (1918–1924) Chapter 9. “The World Crisis” Reconsidered (1924–1932) Chapter 10. The Era of Tyrannies (1932–1937) Conclusion Notes Index Acknowledgments "An intellectual biography of Élie Halévy that examines the entire range of Halévy's works, as well as the contexts within which these works were written: his neo-Kantian philosophical orientation; his incisive analysis of British Utilitarianism (an analysis still debated by historians of political thought); his involvement in the Dreyfus Affair; his stance of "socialist liberalism" in the years before World War I; his thesis about the importance of religion and mores in modern England (the so-called "Halévy thesis"); his principled stance during World War I; his new views of socialism and nationalism after the war; and his arguments concerning the era of tyrannies"