ABSTRACT
Spencer devotes his entire political and sociological research to the way society changes and, in particular, to the way in which it evolves between the two different polarities of “military society” and “industrial society.” In his view, institutions “depend on character and, although they may change in their superficial aspects, cannot be changed in their essential nature more quickly than it is possible to change that character”. In Hodgskin there are tidbits of journalism, various annotations on the division of labor in the industrial world, ideas never brought to full maturation but that echo the sentiments of his classical liberalism. However, it is not far-fetched to assume that those conversations about “too much government” during his time at the Economist did germinate in Spencer more than he was willing to admit. This chapter argues that classical liberalism is the tradition in political thought to which Thomas Hodgskin belongs, and of which he should be considered a genuine champion.
