Hobhouse’s success with these works led him to
leave the Manchester Guardianto help cofound a new
liberal newspaper, The Tribune.That same year, he also
became the editor of the Sociological Review.In 1907,
he was appointed a professor of sociology at London
University. Although he was not a formal member of
the staff, Hobhouse did continue to publish articles in
the Guardian,and in 1911, he was made a director of
the paper.
Also in 1911, Hobhouse published one of his semi-
nal political works, Liberalism,in which he presented
an overview of what has come to be known as welfare
liberalism. Hobhouse echoed John Mill’s warnings
about the tyranny of the majority in DEMOCRATICsoci-
eties and of customs and traditions. He further argued
that FREEDOMwas only one component of a modern
democratic society and that there needed to be social
protections built into a nation’s infrastructure and gov-
ernment to ensure EQUALITY. Hobhouse contended that
government had a role to play in regulating industry to
prevent corporations from gaining unfair competitive
advantages over other companies that voluntarily
adopted policies that were advantageous for workers,
including higher wages, pension benefits, and fewer
working hours.
Hobhouse was initially opposed to British partici-
pation in World War I but came to support the govern-
ment after the outbreak of the war. He again switched
positions as a result of the mounting casualties, and by
1917, he advocated a negotiated peace. He also was a
staunch supporter of women’s SUFFRAGE. Following the
war, he wrote a number of other influential works,
including The Rational Good(1921), The Elements of
Social Justice(1922), and Social Development(1924).
Further Reading
Collini, S. Liberalism and Sociology: L. T. Hobhouse and Political
Argument in England, 1880–1914.Cambridge, Eng.: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1979.
Holbach, Paul-Henri-Dietrich, baron d’
(1723–1789) French philosopher
Holbach was born Paul Heinrich Dietrich in Edesheim,
Germany, but was raised and educated in Paris by his
wealthy uncle, Franciscus Adam d’Holbach. He
became a French national in 1749 and inherited the
estate and title of baron d’Holbach after the death of
his uncle in 1753. Holbach studied at the University of
Leiden, but it was only after he settled into his Paris
estate that he began to establish his reputation. It was
at this time that Holbach began to associate with many
of the most famous radical thinkers or philosophesof
the period, including Marie-Jean CONDORCET, Denis
DIDEROT, Claude-Adrien HELVÉTIUS, and Jean-Jacques
ROUSSEAU. Holbach’s salon became the center for
intense intellectual debate, particularly the exchange
of radical moral and political ideas and the critique of
existing institutions.
Holbach contributed several hundred articles,
mostly on science, to the massive Encyclopédie that
was organized and published by the philosophes.He
also wrote a number of treatises, the earliest of which
included Christianity Unveiled(1761) and The Sacred
Contagion; or Natural History of Superstition(1768).
Holbach became notorious as the most vocal atheist
among the Parisian intellectuals. He condemned
organized religion as harmful nonsense and insisted
that there is no such thing as the soul or spiritual sub-
stance. Instead, as Holbach argued in The System of
Nature(1770), human beings are nothing more than
the causally determined products of a mechanistic
physical universe. All of reality consists of matter and
motion, which assumes different forms according to
natural laws of cause and effect.
Holbach’s atheistic materialism served as the basis
for his moral and political theories. According to Hol-
bach, human beings are naturally driven to secure
their self-preservation and happiness. However, be-
cause humans are imperfect and unequal in their capa-
bilities, the only way to attain happiness for all is
through social exchange and cooperation. Conse-
quently, Holbach defined ethicsas the human science
of determining the needs of humans and of devising
the most effective means for satisfying these needs. For
Holbach, ethics was considered a form of practical
knowledge in contrast to the illusory superstition of
religion. The former, when taken as a type of UTILITARI-
ANISM, was capable of securing human happiness,
whereas the latter, when understood as supernatural
dogmatism, can breed only unhappiness and conflict.
Holbach’s political theory is an extension of his
ethics. In Holbach’s view, the proper role of politics is
to insure the well-being of society. The state is to be
established through a “social pact” that grounds politi-
cal power on the will and consent of the public. The
goal of the pact is to develop the cooperative interac-
tions of citizens so that they may provide useful serv-
ices necessary for the satisfaction of their individualHolbach, Paul-Henri-Dietrich, baron d’ 143