Sovereignty and the Sword: Harrington, Hobbes, and Mixed Government in the English Civil Wars

This book places the political thought of mid-seventeenth-century England within the context of the English civil wars and offers fresh insights into the principles on which two of the great figures of political thought, Thomas Hobbes and James Harrington, constructed their main arguments. Arihiro Fukuda shows Harrington to have been, no less than Hobbes, a theorist of absolute sovereignty. But where Hobbes repudiated the mixed governments of classical antiquity, Harrington was convinced that mixed government, far from being the enemy of absolute sovereignty, was its essential foundation. Fukuda shows how Harrington, in recasting Hobbes's thought, achieved an originality and profundity as striking as his rivals.
1002572173
Sovereignty and the Sword: Harrington, Hobbes, and Mixed Government in the English Civil Wars

This book places the political thought of mid-seventeenth-century England within the context of the English civil wars and offers fresh insights into the principles on which two of the great figures of political thought, Thomas Hobbes and James Harrington, constructed their main arguments. Arihiro Fukuda shows Harrington to have been, no less than Hobbes, a theorist of absolute sovereignty. But where Hobbes repudiated the mixed governments of classical antiquity, Harrington was convinced that mixed government, far from being the enemy of absolute sovereignty, was its essential foundation. Fukuda shows how Harrington, in recasting Hobbes's thought, achieved an originality and profundity as striking as his rivals.
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Sovereignty and the Sword: Harrington, Hobbes, and Mixed Government in the English Civil Wars

Sovereignty and the Sword: Harrington, Hobbes, and Mixed Government in the English Civil Wars

by Arihiro Fukuda
Sovereignty and the Sword: Harrington, Hobbes, and Mixed Government in the English Civil Wars

Sovereignty and the Sword: Harrington, Hobbes, and Mixed Government in the English Civil Wars

by Arihiro Fukuda

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This book places the political thought of mid-seventeenth-century England within the context of the English civil wars and offers fresh insights into the principles on which two of the great figures of political thought, Thomas Hobbes and James Harrington, constructed their main arguments. Arihiro Fukuda shows Harrington to have been, no less than Hobbes, a theorist of absolute sovereignty. But where Hobbes repudiated the mixed governments of classical antiquity, Harrington was convinced that mixed government, far from being the enemy of absolute sovereignty, was its essential foundation. Fukuda shows how Harrington, in recasting Hobbes's thought, achieved an originality and profundity as striking as his rivals.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780198206835
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Publication date: 10/28/1997
Series: Oxford Historical Monographs Series
Pages: 192
Product dimensions: 5.70(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.80(d)
Lexile: 1360L (what's this?)

About the Author

University of Tokyo

Table of Contents

A Note on Citations xiii
1. INTRODUCTION: A New Era in English Political Theory
1(21)
1. Hobbes and Two Traditions of 'Prudence'
1(7)
2. 'Ancient Prudence': Polybius and Mixed Government
8(4)
3. Polybius and Machiavelli
12(5)
4. 'Modern Prudence': Fortescue and Parker
17(5)
2. THE NEW ENGLISH THEORY OF MIXED GOVERNMENT, 1642-1644: Balance, Authority, Conscience
22(16)
1. Introduction
22(2)
2. The Answer and Authority
24(5)
3. Philip Hunton and Henry Ferne
29(4)
4. Conscience and the Constitution
33(5)
3. THOMAS HOBBES'S THEORY OF SOVEREIGNTY, 1640-1647: Private Judgement, Fear, Covenant
38(14)
1. Introduction
38(3)
2. Equality and Sovereignty
41(4)
3. Private Judgement and Conscience
45(3)
4. Fear and Covenant
48(4)
4. LEVIATHAN AND THE ENGLISH REPUBLIC, 1649-1653: Sword, Victory, Conquest
52(17)
1. Anarchy and Mixed Government
52(5)
2. Word and Sword
57(4)
3. Conquest and Victory
61(8)
5. THE CHALLENGE OF JAMES HARRINGTON, 1653-1656: Fear, Necessity, Equality
69(22)
1. Introduction
69(3)
2. The Two 'Preliminaries' of Oceana
72(3)
3. Fear and Necessity
75(7)
4. Conquest and Equality
82(9)
6. HARRINGTON'S THEORY OF BALANCED SOVEREIGNTY, 1656-1660 (I): Interest, Authority, Equality
91(20)
1. Introduction
91(5)
2. Interest and Authority
96(6)
3. Faction and Equality
102(9)
7. HARRINGTON'S THEORY OF BALANCED SOVEREIGNTY, 1656-1660 (II): Interest, Sovereignty, Mixed Government
111(16)
1. Matthew Wren's Criticism
111(3)
2. Reason and Experience
114(9)
3. Sovereignty and Mixed Government
123(4)
8. THE END OF THE ERA, 1660-1683: Balance, Nobility, Resistance
127(14)
1. The Neo-Harringtonians and the Restoration
127(7)
2. The Absorption of Ancient within Modern Prudence
134(2)
3. Conclusion: Conscience, Fear, Interest
136(5)
Appendices 141(26)
A. Religion and Sovereignty in Hobbes and Harrington 141(13)
1. Faith and Conscience 141(5)
2. Conscience and the National Religion 146(4)
3. Toleration and Sovereignty 150(4)
B. An Agrarian Law and the Immortality of Oceana 154(8)
C. 'Mutual Fear' and 'Commonwealth by Institution' in Hobbes 162(3)
D. 'Equality' in Harrington and Contarini 165(2)
Index 167
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