[PDF] An Inquiry Into The Political Thought Of Sir Robert Filmer eBook

Author : James Daly
Publisher : University of Toronto Press
Page : pages
File Size : 22,33 MB
Release : 1979-12-15
Category : History
ISBN : 1442638036

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Sir Robert Filmer (1588-1653) was a defender of 'the Natural Power of Kings against the Unnatural Liberty of the People.' His doctrine of omnicompetent sovereignty had little influence on the thought and political debates of his time, for none of his writings was published until the last few years of his life; but it came under scrutiny later in the century, particularly during the exclusion crisis and in the political writings of John Locke. This book is the first comprehensive analysis of his thought, its context, and its place in English political thought as a whole. Daly examines Filmer's publishing career, his relation to contemporary writers and critics, and the chief sources on which he drew. The book thus provides the background for a study of Filmer's theory of sovereignty, its voluntarist concept of law, its rejection of prescription, fundamental law, and non-monarchical forms of government, and its insistence that monarchy be not only absolute, but arbitrary as well. Analysing Filmer's interpretation of Adam's (and all kings') 'fatherly power,' here described as 'legal patriarchalism,' Daly shows it to be very different from most contemporary thought. In comparing Filmer's thought with that of other royalists and the positions taken by his critics, notably Edward Gee, James Tyrrell, Algernon Sidney, and of course Locke, he shows it to be strikingly original, almost revolutionary, and frequently distorted by those who dealt with it.

Author : Cesare Cuttica
Publisher : Politics, Culture and Society in Early Modern Britain
Page : 283 pages
File Size : 26,1 MB
Release : 2015
Category : History
ISBN : 9780719099182

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This book studies the patriarchalist theories of Sir Robert Filmer (1588-1653) in the context of early modern English and European political cultures. Making use of unexplored primary material and adopting an innovative contextual approach, Cuttica provides a long-overdue account of an often referred-to but largely misunderstood thinker. By focusing on Filmer's most important writing, Patriarcha (written in the 1620s-30s but published in 1680), this monograph rethinks some crucial issues in the reading of political history in the seventeenth century. Most importantly, it invites new reflections on the theory of patriarchalism and gives novel insights into the place of patriotism in the development of English political discourse and identity. Departing from the scholarly mainstream, Cuttica casts light on the following decisive questions: who was the 'real biographical' Filmer? What do we know about the much commented upon but scarcely studied Patriarcha? What reasons urged Sir Robert to compose his writings? What targets did he choose to attack and why? What made Filmer similar or different from other monarchist thinkers in the Caroline reign? Why did Patriarcha find a vast audience in the 1680s? What is the political and argumentative value of patriarchalism? Did Filmer exclusively discuss political issues or did he formulate concepts on other relevant subjects debated within the republic of letters? Thanks to its originality in both approach and content, this volume will be of interest to historians of early modern England; scholars of political thought; political scientists; gender theorists; graduate, postgraduate and post-doctoral researchers in intellectual history and the aforementioned disciplines.

Author : Robert Filmer
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 373 pages
File Size : 28,54 MB
Release : 1991-02-21
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780521374910

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This volume contains the political writings of Sir Robert Filmer (1588-1653), an acute defender of absolute monarchy and perhaps the most important patriarchal political theorist of the seventeenth century. The recent explosion of interest in women's history and the history of the family has greatly enhanced the audience for Filmer's work, and in this new edition Johann Sommerville provides accurate and accessible texts of his principal writings, accompanied by all the standard series features, including a concise introduction, chronology, guide to further reading and notes on Filmer's own text.

Author : Sir Robert Filmer
Publisher : Transaction Publishers
Page : 334 pages
File Size : 33,52 MB
Release :
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1412830575

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Robert Filmer's prime assumption is that the Bible contains the entire truth about the nature of the world and the nature of society. Along with details of recorded history from the beginning to the death of the Apostles, the Bible also includes the laws that would govern history from that time to the end of the world. This central assumption was shared by nearly every member of Tory Christendom in England in the seventeenth century. In the same way, Filmer holds that it is impossible for a people to escape political anarchy once it is assumed that all individuals are independent and equal. It is also impossible for people to escape from collectivism, if it is granted that everyone has a moral right to an equal share of the gifts of nature. In explaining why Filmer remains both important and influential, Laslett argues that his reputation owes a great deal to the fortuitous circumstances of the time at which his works were resuscitated. His work passed almost unnoticed when it was first issued. Only the position of the Tory party gave his views prominence. The value of Patriarcha as a historical document consists primarily in its revelation of the strength and persistence in European culture of the patriarchal attitude to political problems. The opening essay by Laslett offers a brilliant analysis of late seventeenth-century English politics and philosophy. Long unavailable, this is a masterpiece of religious conservatism that still registers in debates at present. Robert Filmer (1588-1653) was an English political theorist who strongly supported the king's right to rule. He believed that a king alone is the maker of laws through divine right. Some of his more famous works include The Power of Kings, King of England, and Freeholders Grand Inquest touching our Sovereign Lord the King and His Parliament. Peter Laslett (1915-2001) was Reader in Politics and the History of Social Structure at Cambridge University. He was known for his work in the history of political thought and helped establish both the Open University and the University of the Th ird Age. Some of his works include A Fresh Map of Life, Family Forms in Historic Europe, and Bastardy and its Comparative History.

Author : John Dunn
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 308 pages
File Size : 43,19 MB
Release : 1982-09-09
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1316583155

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This study provides a comprehensive reinterpretation of the meaning of Locke's political thought. John Dunn restores Locke's ideas to their exact context, and so stresses the historical question of what Locke in the Two Treatises of Government was intending to claim. By adopting this approach, he reveals the predominantly theological character of all Locke's thinking about politics and provides a convincing analysis of the development of Locke's thought. In a polemical concluding section, John Dunn argues that liberal and Marxist interpretations of Locke's politics have failed to grasp his meaning. Locke emerges as not merely a contributor to the development of English constitutional thought, or as a reflector of socio-economic change in seventeenth-century England, but as essentially a Calvinist natural theologian.