The Cambridge Companion to Constant

ISBN-13: 9780521856461 / Angielski / Twarda / 2009 / 448 str.

Helena Rosenblatt

Opis

Benjamin Constant is widely regarded as a founding father of modern liberalism. The Cambridge Companion to Constant presents a collection of interpretive essays on the major aspects of his life and work by a panel of international scholars, offering a necessary overview for anyone who wants to better understand this important thinker. Separate sections are devoted to Constant as a political theorist and actor, his work as a social analyst and literary critic, and his accomplishments as a historian of religion. Themes covered range from Constant s views on modern liberty, progress, terror, and individualism, to his ideas on slavery and empire, literature, women, and the nature and importance of religion. The Cambridge Companion to Constant is a convenient and accessible guide to Constant and the most up-to-date scholarship on him."

Spis treści

Introduction: 1. Benjamin Constant: life and work Dennis Wood; Part I. The Political Thinker and Actor: 2. Liberalism's lucid illusion Marcel Gauchet; 3. The liberty to denounce: ancient and modern Stephen Holmes; 4. Constant's idea of modern liberty Jeremy Jennings; 5. Benjamin Constant and the terror Stefano de Luca; 6. Constant's thought on slavery and empire Jennifer Pitts; 7. Constant as a second restoration politician Robert Alexander; Part II. The Psychologist and Critic: 8. Constant and women K. Steven Vincent; 9. Individualism and individuality in Constant Gerald Izenberg; 10. Literature and politics in Constant Patrick Coleman; 11. Constant's theory of the perfectibility of the human race Etienne Hofmann; Part III. The Analyst and Historian of Religion: 12. Religion according to Constant Tzvetan Todorov; 13. Constant on the religious spirit of liberalism Bryan Garsten; 14. Constant on religion: 'theism descends from heaven to earth' Laurence Dickey; Conclusion: 15. Eclipses and revivals: Constant's reception in France and America (1830–2007) Helena Rosenblatt.