Empire and Progress in the Victorian Secularist Movement: Imagining a Secular World

This book explores the relationship between empire and the Victorian secularist movement, arguing that the religious diversity of the British Empire shaped the ethical worldview of secularists and provided justification for their policy reform proposals.

Format: Hardback
Length: 188 pages
Publication date: 02 December 2021
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland AG

This groundbreaking book delves into the intricate relationship between empire and the Victorian secularist movement, a subject that has received limited scholarly attention. While historians have acknowledged the role of empire in shaping organized free thought, they have largely overlooked its significance in the development of secularism. During this period of scientific rationalism and belief in a European civilizing mission, secularism in Britain and its settler colonies emerged as an outward-looking, global ideology. However, a comprehensive exploration of the formation of secularist ideas about universal progress, ethics, and secular morality remains lacking.

To address this gap, this book employs a comprehensive examination of the secularist periodical and pamphlet press. By analyzing these sources, the book argues that the religious diversity of the British Empire played a crucial role in shaping the ethical worldview of the secularists. The diverse religious traditions encountered by the secularists, including Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism, provided them with ammunition for their critiques of Christian morality and the church. Moreover, the empire's religious diversity justified their policy reform proposals, both in Britain and its colonies.

The book explores how the secularists used the religious diversity of the empire to challenge the moral authority of the church and advocate for social and political change. It examines how they used the concept of universal progress to argue for the moral superiority of secularism and the need to eradicate religious discrimination and inequality. The secularists also drew upon ethical principles from various religious traditions to justify their critiques of Christian morality and promote a more humane and egalitarian society.

Furthermore, the book sheds light on the complex interplay between secularism and colonialism. It explores how the secularists used their critiques of Christian morality and the church to justify colonial expansion and the exploitation of colonial populations. The book argues that the secularists saw the empire as a vehicle for spreading their moral and ethical values and promoting universal progress.

In conclusion, this book offers a fresh and insightful perspective on the relationship between empire and the Victorian secularist movement. By examining the secularist periodical and pamphlet press, it demonstrates how the religious diversity of the British Empire shaped the ethical worldview of the secularists and provided them with the ammunition for their critiques of Christian morality and the church. The book also sheds light on the complex interplay between secularism and colonialism, highlighting how the secularists used their ideology to justify colonial expansion and exploitation. This book is a valuable contribution to the field of history and will interest scholars, researchers, and anyone interested in the history of secularism, empire, and social change.

Weight: 417g
Dimension: 210 x 148 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783030852016
Edition number: 1st ed. 2022