Organic Tendencies in Medieval Political Thought

1938 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 849-876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewart Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
The State ◽  
Actual Structure ◽  
The Real ◽  
Legal Concepts ◽  
Medieval Political Theory

The purpose of this paper is a re-examination of the thesis set forth by Otto von Gierke: that in medieval political theory there were certain organic tendencies which, because the jurists failed to develop the concept of the real personality of the group, ultimately gave way to an atomistic construction of the state. The paper is not concerned with the actual structure of medieval society, nor with the legal concepts of jurists, but with the theoretical doctrines of the publicists which Gierke interprets in that section of Das deutsche Genossenschaftsrecht which, in Maitland's translation, has become a classic for students of political theory. It is my contention that, while his treatment of subordinate issues of medieval political theory is often masterly, Gierke's main theses in regard to the medieval concepts of the nature of the group, the relation of officers to the group, and the relation of groups to one another are fundamentally inaccurate.

Without Foundations: Plato'sLysisand Postmodern Friendship

2010 ◽  
Vol 104 (1) ◽  
pp. 134-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
PAUL W. LUDWIG
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
The State ◽  
Private Sphere ◽  
Civic Friendship ◽  
Fundamental Ontology

Political theory has developed at important junctures by questioning its ontological foundations. Modern political thought begins by questioning the naturalness of human sociability. Instead of the civic friendship propounded by the ancients, modern liberals see friendship as belonging to a private sphere, whereas the state is an alliance among competitors. Postmodern theorists have extended the logic of competition to encompass private friendships, doing so, in part, by critiquing liberal foundations. Plato's account of friendship reveals surprising affinities with two such postmodern critiques. TheLysisexplores what friendship would be like without ontological claims or with only negative foundations such as the power and enmity found in accounts of friendship as diverse as those of Foucault and Derrida. The Platonic/postmodern comparison offers a way of ensuring that foundational inquiry illuminates political theory and argues for a greater role for fundamental ontology than mainstream liberal theorists have yet conceded.

scholarly journals Hobbes Overrated, Spinoza Underrated

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Jan-Erik Lane
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
The State ◽  
Religious Philosophy ◽  
Parallel Lives ◽  
The Absolute

<p><em>In political thought, Hobbes and Spinoza form an interesting and fascinating couple. They lived parallel lives and wrote much on similar topics: humans, contracts, the state and religion. Whereas Hobbes is considered one of the absolute top political philosophers, Spinoza has only been recognized as a great philosopher, due to his Ethics. But on close examination, I dare say that Spinoza outperforms Hobbes also on political theory and religion. The aim of this paper is to call for a re-evaluation of Spinoza’s political and religious philosophy.</em></p>

The Opinion of Mankind

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Sagar
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
David Hume ◽  
State Theory ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
Scottish Enlightenment ◽  
History Of Political Thought ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
History Of

What is the modern state? Conspicuously undertheorized in recent political theory, this question persistently animated the best minds of the Enlightenment. Recovering David Hume and Adam Smith's underappreciated contributions to the history of political thought, this book considers how, following Thomas Hobbes's epochal intervention in the mid-seventeenth century, subsequent thinkers grappled with explaining how the state came into being, what it fundamentally might be, and how it could claim rightful authority over those subject to its power. Hobbes has cast a long shadow over Western political thought, particularly regarding the theory of the state. This book shows how Hume and Smith, the two leading lights of the Scottish Enlightenment, forged an alternative way of thinking about the organization of modern politics. They did this in part by going back to the foundations: rejecting Hobbes's vision of human nature and his arguments about our capacity to form stable societies over time. In turn, this was harnessed to a deep reconceptualization of how to think philosophically about politics in a secular world. The result was an emphasis on the “opinion of mankind,” the necessary psychological basis of all political organization. Demonstrating how Hume and Smith broke away from Hobbesian state theory, the book suggests ways in which these thinkers might shape how we think about politics today, and in turn how we might construct better political theory.

Marsilius of Padua: The Defender of the Peace

2007 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 544-546
Author(s):  
Bettina Koch
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Undergraduate Education ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
Political Ideas ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Marsilius Of Padua ◽  
History Of ◽  
Medieval Political Theory ◽  
The Church

Marsilius of Padua: The Defender of the Peace, Annabel Brett, ed. and trans., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. lxi, 569.Marsilius of Padua's Defensor Pacis is one of the key texts of medieval political theory. His thought forms a cornerstone of the transition from medieval to modern political reasoning and is one of the Western classics in the history of political ideas. This early fourteenth-century thinker is not only well known for his secular political thought but also for a theory of the Church that foreshadows the Reformation. The importance of Marsilius of Padua is demonstrated by a continuing and increasing scholarly interest in his ideas. Moreover, the growing number of translations and re-translations of Marsilius's writings indicates his significance for graduate and undergraduate education as well as for scholars whose primary expertise is not in medieval political thought.

scholarly journals Controlling the State in the Political Theory of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1010
Author(s):  
Erik Skare
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
National Authority ◽  
Ideological Differences ◽  
Just Society ◽  
Self Rule ◽  
Islamic Values

Existing scholarship has largely focused on the violence of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) when analyzing their response to the Oslo Agreement and the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority (PA) in the 1990s. The Islamist opposition’s contribution to Palestinian political thought has largely been ignored, however, although the prospects of Palestinian self-rule confronted the two movements with fundamental questions about social organization, governance, and the permissibility of democracy. I offer an analysis of key Hamas and PIJ texts from this period to demonstrate that Hamas and PIJ fundamentally differ in their analysis of the state and the organization of just society. While Hamas outlines a state-centric approach to governance through which Islamic values are enforced from above, PIJ perceives the state to be the greatest threat to the just organization of society. This article consequently dispels the myth that the two Palestinian Islamist movements had no significant ideological differences in the 1990s.

The Economic Dimension of Cicero's Political Thought: Property and State

1983 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 739-756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neal Wood
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Private Property ◽  
The State ◽  
Economic Dimension ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
History Of ◽  
Political Thinker

AbstractCicero's great reputation as a political thinker has sharply declined in the twentieth century. Commentators, if treating him at all, usually focus briefly on his ethical ideas and neglect the significant economic dimension of his thought. In view of the importance of the conception of property in the history of political theory. Cicero deserves to be taken more seriously today by political scientists. An “economic individualist” who recommended the enlightened pursuit of self-interest and defended property differentials, he was the first major political thinker to conceive of the protection of private property as the primary purpose of the state.

Andreas Fricius Modrevius—A Polish Political Theorist of the Sixteenth Century

1946 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 485-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Ulam
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
The State ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Good State ◽  
State And Society ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Ancient Political Thought ◽  
Synthetic View

It has been said that political thought of the sixteenth century can be classified into two types—an attempt to find a juristic basis for the raison d'état exemplified in the work of Bodin, and the antithetic point of view found in the Vindiciae and concerned with the establishment of abstract right.There is, however, yet another trend of political thought observable at the time—a political theory which combines the two trends of political thought mentioned above, but which goes beyond the “long research into the terms of political obedience,” in its attempt at a synthetic view of the state and society. And one of the best expressions of this way of thinking is found in the writings of Andreas Fricius Modrevius (Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski), the most notable political author of sixteenth-century Poland.The great significance of Fricius' writings to a modern student lies largely in the way in which they mirror the thought of the Renaissance and the Reformation, and in the successful combination that Fricius achieves of a predominantly Aristotelian analysis of the state with a Christian idealism which he imparts to his discussion of a “good state” and its ends. His ability to combine the best features of the ancient political thought and to adapt them to the realities of sixteenth-century Europe brought Fricius to the attention of such writers as Bodin, Althusius, and Grotius.

scholarly journals Beyond the Letter of His Master’s Thought : C.N.R. McCoy on Medieval Political Theory

2008 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 467-483
Author(s):  
William P.Haggerty
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Marsilius Of Padua ◽  
History Of ◽  
Medieval Political Theory

Published in 1962, Charles N.R. McCoy’s The Structure of Political Thought remains an important, albeit neglected, work on the history of political philosophy. Though there has been some appreciation of his study, there has never been a critical examination of his treatment of medieval political theory. In my paper, I explore the structure of his argument in the two chapters on medieval thought, showing how McCoy centers his discussion on an investigation of the different interpretative methods Thomas Aquinas and Marsilius of Padua employ when reading Aristotle. He does so in order to establish how the Aristotelian teaching — concerning the structure of political thought — is best protected by (and fulfilled within) revelation.

The Premises of Brownson's Political Theory

1954 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-211
Author(s):  
Stanley J. Parry
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Intellectual History ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
World View ◽  
The State ◽  
The Universe ◽  
The Catholic Church

The theorist's attempt to interpret man's relation to man in civil society inevitably grows from and reflects his deeper conception of man's relation to the universe and to God. Consequently, the ultimate meaning and significance of a political theory can be ascertained only by establishing the precise way in which the theorist's world view has been spelled out in his view of the state. In the case of Orestes A. Brownson this is especially true. In the course of his movement from Transcendentalism to Catholicism he elaborated a metaphysic distinctively his: it summarizes his own intellectual history, his basic thought prior even to his theology, for it is the rationale of his acceptance of the Catholic Church. Our thesis with regard to Brownson's political thought is first, that this same metaphysic constitutes the premises on which he elaborates his political theory and, secondly, that the solution he offers to the ultimate problem raised by that theory is theological since ultimately his basic metaphysic gets completed by his theology. Our task is to indicate how this metaphysic and theology determine the fundamental conceptions of his specifically political thought.

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