Prehistoric Myths in Modern Political Philosophy: Challenging Stone Age Stories

ISBN-13: 9780748678662 / Angielski / Twarda / 2017 / 272 str.

Karl Widerquist;Grant S. McCall

Opis

How modern philosophers use and perpetuate myths about prehistory The state of nature, the origin of property, the origin of government, the primordial nature of inequality and war - why do political philosophers talk so much about the Stone Age? And are they talking about a Stone Age that really happened, or is it just a convenient thought experiment to illustrate their points? Karl Widerquist and Grant S. McCall take a philosophical look at the origin of civilisation, examining political theories to show how claims about prehistory are used. Drawing on the best available evidence from archaeology and anthropology, they show that much of what we think we know about human origins comes from philosophers' imagination, not scientific investigation. Key Features Shows how modern political theories employ ambiguous factual claims about prehistory Brings archaeological and anthropological evidence to bear on those claims Tells the story of human origins in a way that reveals many commonly held misconceptions

Spis treści

Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 2. Modern political philosophy and prehistoric anthropology: Some preliminary issues; 3. The Hobbesian hypothesis: How a colonial prejudice became an essential premise in most popular justification of government sovereignty; 4. Locke employs the Hobbesian hypothesis: How very much the same colonial prejudice became an essential premise in the most popular justification of private property rights; 5. The Hobbesian hypothesis in seventeenth century political theory; 6. The Hobbesian hypothesis in nineteenth century political theory; 7. The Hobbesian Hypothesis in Contemporary Political Theory; 8. The Violence Hypothesis in Anthropology; 9. Nasty & Brutish? Evidence for and against the violence hypothesis; 10. Are you better off now that you were 12,000 years ago? An empirical assessment of the Hobbesian Hypothesis; 11. Implications: What’s left of contractarianism and propertarianism without the Hobbesian hypothesis?; Index; Online Appendix: Appendix to Chapter 2; Appendix to Chapter 5; Appendix to Chapter 6; Appendix to Chapter 7; Appendix to Chapter 8.