ABSTRACT
Historians of political thought have traditionally credited T. H. Green with the reinterpretation of liberal ideas in a less individualistic, even corporatist manner, thereby creating a bridge between the 'classical' liberalism of the Manchester School and the 'new' variety associated with Hobhouse, J. A. Hobson, and others at the turn of the century. It has become commonplace to associate Green's view of liberalism with that of Gladstone and Bright. However, this ideological affiliation is best understood less as an attachment to a particular set of political policies than as an espousal of the peculiar ethos animating them. Personal identity derived not from a number of pre-social biological or psychological determinants, but through the medium of social roles and relationships. Green thought that as individuals increasingly appreciated the worth of freedom as moral ideal, clashes between divergent personal goals would diminish. According to Green, the role of the state was to secure sufficient personal freedom for citizens to act as rational moral agents.
