Ethical socialism

[1] It emphasizes the need for a morally conscious economy based upon the principles of altruism, cooperation, and social justice while opposing possessive individualism.

[15] Those utopian socialists, one of the first currents of modern socialist thought, presented visions and outlines for imaginary or futuristic ideal societies, characterized by the establishment of a moral economy, with positive ideals based on moral and ethical grounds being the main reason for moving society in such a direction.

Descriptions of the problem, explanations of its causes and proposed solutions such as the abolition of private property or supporting cooperatives and public ownership varied among socialist philosophies.

[16] The term ethical socialism initially originated as a pejorative by the Marxian economist Rosa Luxemburg against Marxist revisionist Eduard Bernstein and his socialist reformist supporters, who evoked neo-Kantian liberal ideals and ethical arguments in favour of socialism.

[19] Ethical socialism has been publicly supported by British prime ministers Ramsay MacDonald,[20] Clement Attlee,[21] and Tony Blair.

[1] Tawney opposed what he called the "acquisitive society" that causes private property to be used to transfer surplus profit to "functionless owners", i.e. capitalist rentiers.