Developing Freedom within Social Institutions: William Torrey Harris and the St. Louis Hegelians

Abstract

W. T Harris and his colleagues in the St. Louis Movement wanted schools to show children how social restraints enhanced their freedoms. In this way, they created a definition of democracy that differed from that of the New England Transcendentalists. Although Harris believed people should use nature to enhance their wellbeing, he thought the recognition that everyone lives within a web of systems would prevent people from wasting those valuable resources. To offset individualism, materialism, and conformity, he turned psychological growth toward spiritual development, but he used philosophy and reason rather than religion to aid in this process.