TY  - BOOK
AU  - Lucas,Edward
TI  - Early British Socialism and the 'Religion of the New Moral World'
T2  - Palgrave Studies in Utopianism,
SN  - 9783031239403
U1  - 941 23
PY  - 2023///
CY  - Cham
PB  - Springer Nature Switzerland, Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan
KW  - Great Britain
KW  - History
KW  - Religion
KW  - Social history
KW  - Intellectual life
KW  - World politics
KW  - History of Britain and Ireland
KW  - History of Religion
KW  - Social History
KW  - History of Ideas
KW  - Political History
N1  - 1. Introduction -- 2. The State of the Literature -- 3. Reconceiving Religion -- 4. Owenite Socialism in Religious Context -- 5. Owenite Religion as a Socialite Religion -- 6. Religion and the History of Socialism -- 7. Conclusion
N2  - This book challenges existing accounts of the role of religion in early-nineteenth-century British socialism. Against scholarly interpretations which have identified Owenite socialists as anti-religious or as imitating Christianity, this book argues that Owenites offer a re-conception of the nature of 'religion' as advanced through knowledge of the natural and social world, as a prospective source of solidarity which could serve as the unifying bond for communities, and as constituted by ethical conduct. It shows how this re-conception was formed through a sincere and considered reflection upon the problem of religious truth and was shaped by the particular religious context of early-nineteenth-century Britain. It then demonstrates the importance of this reimagination of religion to their understanding of socialism. Their religious interests were not an eccentric adornment to their socialism, an outdated residue yet to be shed and encumbering the development of a mature socialism, or merely instrumental to their temporal goals. Instead, Owenite ambitions of religious reform were grounded in the philosophical preoccupations which animated their socialism. Edward Lucas completed his DPhil at the University of Oxford, UK and now works for the UK government
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-23940-3
ER  -