A Short History of Western Political Thought PDF
Preview A Short History of Western Political Thought
Thisbriefnarrativesurveyofpoliticalthoughtoverthepasttwomillennia exploreskeyideasthathaveshapedWesternpoliticaltraditions.Beginning with the Ancient Greeks’ classical emphasis on politics as an independent sphere of activity, the book goes on to consider the medieval and early modernChristianviewofpoliticsanditscentralroleinprovidingspiritual leadership.Concludingwithadiscussionofpresent-daypoliticalthought, W.M.Spellmanexploresthereturntotheancientunderstandingofpolitical life as a more autonomous sphere, and one that doesn’t relate to anything beyondthephysicalworld. Settingtheworkofmajorandlesser-knownpoliticalphilosopherswithin its historical context, the book offers a balanced and considered overview of the topic, taking into account the religious values, inherited ideas and social settings of the writers. Assuming no prior knowledge and written in a highly accessible style, A Short History of Western Political Thought is idealforthoseseekingtodevelopanunderstandingofthisfascinatingand importantsubject. W.M.SpellmanisProfessorofHistoryattheUniversityofNorthCarolina, Asheville, USA. He is the author of A Concise History of the World since 1945; European Political Thought, 1600–1700 and John Locke, all published by Palgrave Macmillan. He also co-authored The West: A Narrative History (Prentice-Hall,USA). Alsobytheauthor JOHNLOCKE(1997) EUROPEANPOLITICALTHOUGHT,1600–1700(1998) ACONCISEHISTORYOFTHEWORLDSINCE1945(2008) A SHORT HISTORY OF WESTERN POLITICAL THOUGHT W. M. Spellman ©W.M.Spellman2011 Allrightsreserved.Noreproduction,copyortransmissionofthis publicationmaybemadewithoutwrittenpermission. Noportionofthispublicationmaybereproduced,copiedortransmitted savewithwrittenpermissionorinaccordancewiththeprovisionsofthe Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988,orunderthetermsofanylicence permittinglimitedcopyingissuedbytheCopyrightLicensingAgency, SaffronHouse,6-10KirbyStreet,LondonEC1N8TS. Anypersonwhodoesanyunauthorizedactinrelationtothispublication maybeliabletocriminalprosecutionandcivilclaimsfordamages. Theauthorhasassertedhisrighttobeidentified astheauthorofthisworkinaccordancewiththeCopyright, DesignsandPatentsAct1988. Firstpublished2011by PALGRAVEMACMILLAN PalgraveMacmillanintheUKisanimprintofMacmillanPublishersLimited, registeredinEngland,companynumber785998,ofHoundmills,Basingstoke, HampshireRG216XS. PalgraveMacmillanintheUSisadivisionofStMartin’sPressLLC, 175FifthAvenue,NewYork,NY10010. PalgraveMacmillanistheglobalacademicimprintoftheabovecompanies andhascompaniesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld. Palgrave®andMacmillan®areregisteredtrademarksintheUnitedStates, theUnitedKingdom,Europeandothercountries. ISBN978–0–230–54558–8hardback ISBN978–0–230–54559–5paperback Thisbookisprintedonpapersuitableforrecyclingandmadefromfully managedandsustainedforestsources.Logging,pulpingandmanufacturing processesareexpectedtoconformtotheenvironmentalregulationsofthe countryoforigin. AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Spellman,W.M. Ashorthistoryofwesternpoliticalthought/W.M.Spellman. p. cm. Includesindex. ISBN978–0–230–54559–5(pbk.) 1. Politicalscience—History. 2. Politicalscience—Philosophy— History. 3. Civilization,Western. I. Title. JA81.S642011 320.01—dc22 2011008058 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 PrintedandboundinChina InMemoryofJosephM.Levine This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments viii Introduction:CivilSocietyandHumanFlourishing 1 1 City-StatesandRepublicsc.400BCE–c.400CE 8 2 HeavenlyMandates,400–1500 34 3 TheEmergenceoftheSovereignState,1500–1700 59 4 FromSubjecttoCitizen,1700–1815 86 5 IdeologyandEquality,1815–1914 111 6 BreakdownandUncertainty,1914–2010 137 Conclusion:NewTrialsforOldIdeas 163 Notes 167 FurtherReading 181 Index 183 vii Acknowledgments Authors of short surveys always rely on the work of specialist scholars in the field. The Cambridge University Press series in the history of political thought features balanced and in-depth essays by leading historians and politicaltheorists.Eachvolumeintheseriesalsocontainsanexcellentbibli- ographyofrecentliteratureinthefield.Onceagaintheadministrationatmy homeinstitution,andinparticularProvostKatherineWhatley,allowedme valuabletimeforworkingonthisproject.Theresearchlibrariansandcircu- lationspecialistsattheUniversityofNorthCarolinaatAsheville,including Bryan Sinclair, Helen Dezendorf, and Leith Tate, helped to locate materi- als and expedite the inter-library loan process. Lynne Olin and University Librarian Jim Kuhlman kindly approved my annual requests for a quiet study carrel in Ramsey Library. My colleague Bill Sabo assisted with sug- gestions and timely criticism at the early stages when the outline of the book was being drafted, while the two anonymous readers for the press highlighted a number of omissions and offered some important correc- tions.JenniBurnellatPalgravekepttheprojectmovingforwardwithgentle reminders and timely updates. The book is dedicated to the memory of one of the leading cultural and intellectual historians of our day, Joseph M. Levine, a kind and gentle man who guided generations of graduate studentsintothegreatconversation. viii Introduction: Civil Society and Human Flourishing ThisbriefsurveyofWesternpoliticalthought,withitssubjectmatterorig- inating in ancient Greece and its influence most significant in Western EuropeandtheAmericaspriortothetwentiethcentury,iswrittenwiththe layperson and student reader in mind. The narrative is organized around views of human potential for participating in peaceful collective action. It assumes that the varieties of civil society adopted by peoples over the centuries, and the goals set for the exercise of political authority, repre- sentanimportantfacetofhumanadaptationtoenvironment,orasthelate GeorgeSabinewroteinhis1937classicAHistoryofPoliticalTheory,“social life and organization are primary biological survival devices.”1 Western politicalthoughtacrosstheages,then,representsaseriesofeffortstounder- stand and solve the problems of group life and association. Often those efforts began with basic questions about the human condition. How can we as humans, given our nature and dispositions, best achieve whatever definition of the good life is accepted as proper? How can we balance the claimsoftheindividual—muchcelebratedintheWestsincetheeighteenth century—with the well-being of the entire community? To what extent is human behavior shaped by environment and culture? Are there bedrock constants, such as rationality and an innate moral sense, that distinguish humansintheireffortstoliveincommunity?Orarewemotivatedprimar- ily by base passions and selfish predispositions that must be controlled or inhibitedbeforeanysortofcollectivesocialexistenceispossible? Manyofthesequestionspersistintoourownday,ofcourse,buttheideas thatinformedcreativeanswers—whatevertheoutcomes—weremanyand extremelyvariedoverthepasttwo-and-a-halfmillennia,andinsomecases still inspire contemporary debate. The authors and issues discussed here represent examples of some key ideas in the Western tradition, beginning with the classical Greek emphasis on politics as an autonomous sphere of activity,movingtothemedievalandearlymodernChristianviewofpolitics asacompartmentofspiritualleadership,andconcludingwiththemodern reinterpretationofpoliticallifeasanindependentfieldwithoutreferenceto any larger metaphysical agenda. Many of the authors who maintained an overcastorskepticalviewofhumanpotentialemphasizedtheneedforcivil 1
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