The purpose of this paper is to examine Whitman's principles of democracy and ethical socialism. Whitman set the principle of equality and the principle of individuality obtained through the transcendence of the phenomenal world as two principles that constitute his democracy. Apparently at the time of Whitman, democracy tended to be used either synonymously with socialism, or to denote an overarching category which included not only socialism but other movements which worked towards creating a more equal society. The significance of Whitman to ethical socialism has very long been recognized: 『Leaves of Grass』 and 『Democratic Vistas』 were advertised and recommended to ethical socialist readers alongside economic and political publications. The periodicals 『Seed-Time』, 『The Labour Prophet』, and 『The Labour Leader』 were representative publications of ethical socialism. These gave a sense of progression, showing how socialism developed and how this development had an impact on the way that socialist periodicals treated Whitman and literature more generally. Alongside Emerson and Thoreau, Whitman’s philosophy lent itself to being interpreted in a way that both inspired and supported by ethical socialism.