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The Totalitarianism of Thomas Arnold

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2009

David Nicholls
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Extract

Dr. Thomas Arnold, headmaster of Rugby school, was perhaps one of the most consistent totalitarians of the nineteenth century — he constitutes almost a pure type of totalitarianism and for this reason alone it is worth taking a look at his political ideas. He was also a good man — in certain respects a great man — and a study of Arnold's ideas will remind us that totalitarian theories are not always set forth by wicked men, but are often the conclusions of good ones. Two other reasons for examining Arnold's ideas may be mentioned; in the first place he had a considerable influence on a generation of Englishmen, as headmaster of Rugby; second, he is generally believed to have been a liberal, and it will I hope be clear from what follows that his was one of the most illiberal systems of politics ever set forth by English writers.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Review of Politics , Volume 29 , Issue 4 , October 1967 , pp. 518 - 525
Copyright
Copyright © University of Notre Dame 1967

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References

1 Iremonger, F.A., The Life of William Temple (London, 1943), p. 93.Google Scholar

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