With the notion of individual rights as important in moral and political theory now as it has ever been, there is renewed speculation over the origins and development of this concept. Liberty, Right and Nature is a work of unusual scope and power that takes a fresh look at this intellectual tradition, and deploys an enormous range of further sources in order to reassess our understanding of its development, beginning with the texts of the thirteenth century poverty controversy and ending with a discussion of Thomas Hobbes' theory of natural rights.

This volume draws on the expertise of both historians and literary critics to examine the classical sources of Milton's republicanism, the genesis of that republicanism in the 1640s, its disappointment in the 1650s and its presence in his work (particularly in Paradise Lost) after the Restoration. Milton's prose works and his poetry are given equal coverage, making this the first collaborative volume to attempt a comprehensive thematic assessment of his political and literary career.

Pluralism and the Personality of the State tells the history of English political thought from 1900 to 1933, concentrating on the work of the political pluralists and their attack on the idea of state sovereignty. It explores the background to their work in the ideas of the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes and the German jurist Otto von Gierke. It also looks at what wider relevance their ideas might have today, particularly with regard to the question of the relation between the state and voluntary associations.

Did science and philosophy develop differently in ancient Greece and ancient China? If so, can we say why? This book consists of a series of detailed studies of cosmology, natural philosophy, mathematics and medicine that suggest the answer to the first question is yes. To answer the second, the author relates the science produced in each ancient civilization first to the values of the society in question and then to the institutions within which the scientists and philosophers worked.

Riches and Poverty explores an influential idea in political economy. The work of Adam Smith provided a key for studying the rich and poor and assessing the American and French revolutions. Meanwhile Britain embarked on its career as the first manufacturing nation, and the debate on poverty provoked an intellectual rift between Malthus and the Lake poets that continues to influence our perceptions of cultural history. Donald Winch has written a compelling narrative of these developments, which emphasizes throughout the moral and political bearings of economic ideas.

This book reassesses the relationship between Enlightenment and religion in England. It has long been accepted that liberal, rational dissenters developed an Enlightenment agenda, but most literature on this topic is out of date. These interdisciplinary essays provide a fresh analysis of rational dissent within English Enlightenment culture from a variety of viewpoints. Its wide perspective and new research make Enlightenment and Religion an important and original contribution to eighteenth-century studies.

With the notion of individual rights as important in moral and political theory now as it has ever been, there is renewed speculation over the origins and development of this concept. Liberty, Right and Nature is a work of unusual scope and power that takes a fresh look at this intellectual tradition, and deploys an enormous range of further sources in order to reassess our understanding of its development, beginning with the texts of the thirteenth century poverty controversy and ending with a discussion of Thomas Hobbes' theory of natural rights.

This book examines ideals of classical learning in order to make a significant and provocative contribution to current and past discussions on the role of education in society--why we teach and learn what we do. Essays by classicists, historians, philosophers and literary scholars argue for seeing the history of ancient education as an aspect of political theory and history, the figure of the teacher and of the student being inevitably implicated in various structures of intellectual, social and political authority.

Richard A. Primus examines three crucial periods in American history (the late eighteenth century, the Civil War and the 1950s and 1960s) and demonstrates how the conceptions of rights prevailing at each of these times grew out of opposition to concrete political cases. In the first study of its kind, Primus highlights the influence of totalitarianism (in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union) on the language of rights. This book will be a major contribution to contemporary political theory, of interest to scholars and students in politics and government, constitutional law, and American history.

This book discusses the crisis of the early modern state in eighteenth-century Britain and sets it in its European context. The American Revolution and the simultaneous demand for wider religious toleration at home challenged the principles of sovereignty and obligation that underpinned arguments about the character of the state. At stake was a fundamental challenge to the way in which politics was described. The Americans and their British supporters argued that individuals, by voting and thinking freely, ought to determine the "common good." These influential ideas continue to resonate...