Rethinking The Foundations of Modern Political Thought

by Annabel Brett (Editor), Holly Hamilton-Bleakley (Editor), James H. Tully (Editor)

Quentin Skinner's classic study The Foundations of Modern Political Thought was first published by Cambridge in
1978. This was the first of a series of outstanding publications that have changed forever the way the history of political thought is taught and practised. Rethinking the Foundations of Modern Political Thought looks afresh at the impact of the original work, asks why it still matters, and considers a number of significant agendas that it still inspires. A very distinguished international team of contributors has been assembled, including John Pocock, RichardTuck and David Armitage, and the result is an unusually powerful and cohesive contribution to the history of ideas, of interest to large numbers of students of early modern history and political thought. In conclusion, Skinner replies to each chapter and presents his own thoughts on the latest trends and the future direction of the history of political thought.

Genres: History

310 pages, Paperback

First published December 30, 2002

About the author

Annabel Brett studied Classics at Cambridge before turning to the history of political thought for her PhD on subjective rights in later medieval scholastic thought, subsequently published as Liberty, right and nature by Cambridge University Press in 1997. After a research fellowship at Gonville and Caius College followed by a lectureship in Philosophy at the University of York, she returned to Cambridge in 1996 to take up a lectureship in History of Political Thought.

Currently Professor of Political Thought and History and a co-director of the Cambridge Centre for Political Thought, she has lectured and published widely in the history of late medieval and early modern moral and political thought, with an emphasis on the natural law tradition, Aristotelianism and scholastic philosophy. Her Carlyle Lectures of 2008 were published by Princeton University Press in 2011 as Changes of state. Nature and the limits of the city in early moder natural law. She is the author of a major new translation of Marsilius of Padua's The Defender of the Peace (2005) and retains a strong interest in the theory and practice of translation in history. More recently, she has turned her attention to the history of international law, resulting in several publications and a major collaborative project now published as Annabel Brett, Megan Donaldson and Martti Koskenniemi eds., History, politics, law. Thinking through the international (Cambridge University Press, 2021).

Reviews

[N Perrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb collection of essays on Skinner's definitive Foundations of Modern Political Thought which not only provides insight in how the scholarship has progressed since Foundations but also offers the historical context surrounding its production.

An extremely helpful narrative describing the shifts in the scholarship of intellectual political history while also offering a thorough bibliography of significant sources tied to the historiographical discourse on modern political thought. This is an essential companion for reading the Foundations.

[Julius · Rating 2 out of 5]

Es gibt keinen Grund diese Sekundärliteratur zu lesen, ohne vorher die Primärliteratur durchgearbeitet zu haben: "Foundations of Modern Political Thought" von Quentin Skinner von 1978.

Das Buch ist sehr fachlich geschrieben und die meisten verwendeten politik-philosophischen Konzepte werden nicht erklärt. Obwohl es streckenweise interessant zu lesen ist, erkenne ich insgesamt kaum den Mehrwert.

[elmandfir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essays collection like this convince me not to lose all hope for academia