The Languages of Political Theory in Early-Modern Europe (Ideas in Context, Series Number 4)

This volume studies the concept of a political 'language', of a discourse composed of shared vocabularies, idioms and rhetorical strategies, which has been widely influential on recent work in the history of political thought. The collection brings together a number of essays by a distinguished group of international scholars, on the four dominant languages in use in Europe between the end of the fourteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century. They are: the language of political Aristotelianism and the natural law; the language of classical republicanism; the language of commerce and the commercial society; and the language of a science of politics. Each author has chosen a single aspect of his or her language, sometimes the work of a single author, in one case the history of a single team, and shown how it determined the shape and development of that language, and the extent to which each language was a response to the challenge of other modes of discourse. The Concept Of A Language And The Métier D'historien : Some Considerations On Practice / J.g.a. Pocock -- The History Of The Word Politicus In Early-modern Europe / Nicolai Rubinstein -- Civil Science In The Renaissance : The Problem Of Interpretation / Donald Kelley -- Dispossessing The Barbarian : The Language Of Spanish Thomism And The Debate Over The Property Rights Of The American Indians / Anthony Pagden -- The 'modern' Theory Of Natural Law / Richard Tuck -- Sir Thomas More's Utopia And The Language Of Renaissance Humanism / Quentin Skinner -- The Concept Of Ordre And The Language Of Classical Republicanism In Jean-jacques Rousseau / Maurizio Viroli -- The Language Of Seventeenth-century Republicanism In The United Provinces : Dutch Or European? / Eco Haitsma Mulier -- The Civil Religion Of James Harrington / Mark Goldie -- Liberty, Luxury And The Pursuit Of Happiness / M.m. Goldsmith -- The Language Of Sociability And Commerce : Samuel Pufendorf And The Theoretical Foundations Of The 'four-stages Theory' / Istvan Hont -- 'da Metafisico A Mercatante' : Antonio Genovesi And The Development Of A New Language Of Commerce In Eighteenth-century Naples / Richard Bellamy -- The Criticism Of Rhetorical Historiography And The Ideal Of Scientific Method : History, Nature And Science In The Political Language Of Thomas Hobbes / Gigliola Rossini -- Saint-simon And The Passage From Political To Social Science / Robert Wokler -- Alexander Hamilton And The Language Of Political Science / Judith N. Shklar. Edited By Anthony Pagden. Earlier Versions Of Seven Of These Essays ... Were Originally Delivered At A Conference On Political Languages Held At The European University Institute In Florence In September 1982--acknowledgements. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. What I shall attempt in this essay is an account of a practice and some of its entailments; and while one cannot verbalise a practice without offering a theory, it is my hope-seeing that we are all in some degree committed to a common practice- to stay as far possible on this side of metatheory.