ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to further depict Green’s view on the modernity. Section one builds the context of Green’s thought of the human condition in the modern age. As the Reformation and the Enlightenment have been taken as two significant events indicating the emergence of the modernity, the two event marked a significant change of Europeans’ self-images, from a being waiting for God’s mercy to a being enabled to decide its own future. However, as Europeans thus proclaimed their individual freedoms from the Pope and the Princes, the Enlightenment thinkers proposed an atomic view of the individual and changed the look of European societies ultimately. Section two discusses Green’s comments on the changes of European societies, particularly the British. While individuality and individual freedom were considered as valuable and significant for all human beings, the actual social and political structure of the modern society, however, could not help all human beings to enjoy their freedoms. The division of facts and ideals, the division of labour and social classes, the loss of the communal spirit were all considered by Green as the outcome of modernity bringing out malign consequences to the Britain. Section three then provides a review of the scholars’ comments on Green’s critique of individualism and modern society, covering the issues of monism and pluralism and the relationship between the individual and the community.
