As a British idealist, T. H. Green (1836–82) belongs to the traditions of both Anglo-American and European philosophy. From the British empiricists and utilitarians he has taken their accessible logic, engagement with politics and aspects of utilitarian theory. As for the German idealists, Green shares their concern with the work of human consciousness and the belief that human spirit defines the nature of human practice. To a large extent Green's originality lies in combining the achievements of German philosophical thought with the practicality and clarity characteristic of British empiricism and utilitarianism. With this synthesising approach Green advances philosophical idealism to a higher stage. I shall argue that he develops a theory of human practice and a theory of morality which can be defined as phenomenological. We can thus see Green not only as a British Hegelian, but also as a British phenomenologist referring to the phenomenology founded by Edmund Husserl (1859–1938). While the association with Hegel places Green's philosophy in the eighteenth century, the association with Husserl positions him in the first half of the twentieth century. The significance of Husserlian phenomenology will be addressed in sections 2, 3 and 4 of this introduction.