Details

Subject(s)

• Political science—Great Britain—History—18th century [Browse]
• Imperialism—History—18th century [Browse]
• Philosophy, British—18th century [Browse]
• Common good [Browse]
• Great Britain—Politics and government—18th century [Browse]
• Great Britain—Church history—18th century [Browse]

Series

• Ideas in context ; 29. [More in this series]
• Ideas in context ; 29 [More in this series]

Summary note

The theme of this book is the crisis of the early modern state in eighteenth-century Britain. The revolt of the North American colonies 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. These were expressed in terms of the 'common good', 'necessity', and 'community' - concepts that came to the fore in early modern European political thought and which gave expression to the problem of defining legitimate authority in a period of increasing consciousness of state power. The Americans and their British supporters argued that individuals ought to determine the common good of the community. A new theory of representation and freedom of thought defines the cutting edge of this revolutionary redefinition of the basic relationship between individual and community.

Notes

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Contents

• 1. The Figure Of Cicero
• 2. A Classical Landscape
• 3. State And Empire
• 4. The Limits Of Sovereignty And Obligation
• 5. The Common Good, Toleration And Freedom Of Thought
• 6. 'Alternatives' To The Common Good 1774-1776.

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ISBN

9780511558566 (ebook)

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