The Limits of State Action (Cambridge Studies in the History and Theory of Politics) - Softcover

Humboldt, Wilhelm Von

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521103428 ISBN 13: 9780521103428

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2009

Synopsis

This text is important both as one of the most interesting contributions to the liberalism of the German Enlightenment, and as the most significant source for the ideas which John Stuart Mill popularized in his essay On Liberty. Humboldt's concern is to define the criteria by which the permissible limits of the state's activities may be determined. His basic principle, like that of Mill, is that the only justification for government interference is the prevention of harm to others. He discusses in detail the role and limits of the state's responsibility for the welfare, security and morals of its citizens. Humboldt's special achievement in this work is to enlarge our sense of what a liberal political theory might be by his particularly sensitive grasp of the complexity of our attitudes to and our need of other people. Dr Burrow has based his translation on Coulthard's version of 1854. In an important introduction, he provides a most perceptive as well as scholarly guide to Humboldt's political thought.

About this title

Book Description:

This text is important both as one of the most interesting contributions to the liberalism of the German Enlightenment, and as the most significant source for the ideas which John Stuart Mill popularized in his essay On Liberty. Humboldt's concern is to define the criteria by which the permissible limits of the state's activities may be determined.

About the Author:

Burrow is professor of European thought at Oxford University and fellow of Balliol College.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0521103428
• ISBN 13: 9780521103428
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192