Time, History, and Political Thought
Time, History, and Political Thought
Between the cliché that 'a week is a long time in politics' and the aspiration of many political philosophers to give their ideas universal, timeless validity lies a gulf which the history of political thought is uniquely qualified to bridge. For that history shows that no conception of politics has dispensed altogether with time, and many have explicitly sought legitimacy in association with forms of history. Ranging from Justinian's law codes to rival Protestant and Catholic visions of political community after the Fall, from Hobbes and Spinoza to the Scottish Enlightenment, and from Kant and Savigny to the legacy of German Historicism and the Algerian Revolution, this volume explores multiple ways in which different conceptions of time and history have been used to understand politics since late antiquity. Bringing together leading contemporary historians of political thought, Time, History, and Political Thought demonstrates just how much both time and history have enriched the political imagination.
- Shows the richness and complexity of the ways in which philosophers and political agents have invoked and used concepts of time and forms of history to develop their political thinking
- Explores the significance of the 'temporal turn' in historical studies for the history of political thought
- Includes contributions by leading historians of political thought from late antiquity to the late 20th century, covering all major periods, canonical and non-canonical thinkers, and key themes and problems in the field
Reviews & endorsements
‘This, in sum, is an ambitious volume, which seeks to win over Hobbes’ successors in the timeless 'science of politics' on the one hand, and sceptics about the 'temporal turn' on the other. That it has any chance of success, in both pursuits, owes to the fact that the essays all impressively steer the course between the Scylla of wishy-washy pretension and the Charybdis of banality.’ Samuel Rubinstein, Oxford Political Review
Product details
February 2025Paperback
9781009289344
361 pages
229 × 152 × 19 mm
0.523kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Introduction: Time, History, and Political Thought John Robertson
- 1. Out of Time? Eternity, Christology, and Justinianic Law Caroline Humfress
- 2. Historicity and Universality in Roman Law before 1600 Magnus Ryan
- 3. 'The Logic of Authority and the Logic of Evidence' George Garnett
- 4. Christian Time and the Commonwealth in early modern Political Thought Sarah Mortimer
- 5. Politic History Kinch Hoekstra
- 6. Hobbes on the Theology and Politics of Time Quentin Skinner
- 7. The Recourse to Sacred History before the Enlightenment: Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise John Robertson
- 8. Law, Chronology, and Scottish Conjectural History Aaron Garrett
- 9. Civilization and Perfectibility: Conflicting Views of the History of Humankind? Silvia Sebastiani
- 10. Kant on History, or Theodicy for Mortal Gods Chris Meckstroth
- 11. Law's Histories in post-Napoleonic Germany Charlotte Johann
- 12. After Historicism: The Politics of Time and History in Twentieth-Century Germany Waseem Yaqoob
- 13. The Right to Rebel: History and Universality in the Political Thought of the Algerian Revolution Emma Stone Mackinnon
- Bibliography
- Index.
