Visions of politics. / Volume 2, Renaissance virtues

489 Pages·2004·3.827 MB·English

by  Quentin Skinner

VISIONS OF POLITICS

Volume : Renaissance Virtues
QUENTIN SKINNER
RegiusProfessorofModernHistory,UniversityofCambridge
         
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom
  
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK
40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA
477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia
Ruiz de Alarcón 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain
Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa
http://www.cambridge.org
©in this collection Quentin Skinner 2004
First published in printed format 2002
ISBN 0-511-03980-8 eBook (netLibrary)
ISBN 0-521-58106-0 hardback
ISBN 0-521-58925-8 paperback
Contents
 
 
Listofplatespagevii
Generalprefaceix
Fullcontents:Volumes–xii
Acknowledgementsxiv
Conventionsxvii
Introduction:TherealityoftheRenaissance
Therediscoveryofrepublicanvalues
 AmbrogioLorenzettiandtheportrayalofvirtuous
government
AmbrogioLorenzettionthepowerandgloryofrepublics
Republicanvirtuesinanageofprinces
Machiavellionvirt`uandthemaintenanceofliberty
 Theideaofnegativeliberty:Machiavellianandmodern
perspectives
ThomasMore’sUtopiaandthevirtueoftruenobility
Humanism,scholasticismandpopularsovereignty
MoralambiguityandtheRenaissanceartofeloquence
JohnMiltonandthepoliticsofslavery
 Classicalliberty,RenaissancetranslationandtheEnglish
civilwar
v
vi Contents
 AugustanpartypoliticsandRenaissanceconstitutional
thought
Fromthestateofprincestothepersonofthestate
Bibliographies
Index
Plates
Theplatesarebetweenpages and
 Thecityandcountrysideundertyranny(westernwall)
 Theruleoftyranny(westernwall)
 Theruleofvirtuousgovernment(northernwall)
 JusticeandConcord(detailofPlate)
 Theeffectsofvirtuousgovernmentinthecity(easternwall)
 Theeffectsofvirtuousgovernmentinthecountryside(easternwall)
 Theeffectsoftyrannyinthecity(westernwall)
 SienaasSupremeJudgeoftheSienese(detailofPlate)
(Plates–:AmbrogioLorenzetti,Buongoverno,frescocycle,
SaladeiNove,PalazzoPubblico,Siena)
 Giotto,TheLastJudgement,fresco(westernwall,Cappella
degliScrovegni,Padua)
 Dancersinthecity(detailofPlate)
 Giotto,Justice,fresco(southernwall,Cappelladegli
Scrovegni,Padua)
 AndreadiBonaiuto,AllegoryoftheChurch,fresco(Cappellone
degliSpagnoli,SantaMariaNovella,Florence)
vii
General preface
Severalofthechaptersinthesevolumesareappearinginprintforthefirst
time.Butmostofthemhavebeenpublishedbefore(althoughgenerally
inaverydifferentform)eitherasarticlesinjournalsorascontributions
tocollectiveworks.Revisingthemforrepublication,Ihaveattemptedto
tread two slightly divergent paths at the same time. On the one hand,
Ihavemostlyallowedmyoriginalcontentionsandconclusionstostand
without significant change. Where I no longer entirely endorse what I
originallywrote,Iusuallyindicatemydissentbyaddinganexplanatory
footnote rather than by altering the text. I have assumed that, if these
essaysareworthre-issuing,thiscanonlybebecausetheycontinuetobe
discussedinthescholarlyliterature.Butifthatisso,thenoneoughtnot
tostartmovingthetargets.
Ontheotherhand,Ihavenothesitatedtoimprovethepresentation
ofmyargumentswhereverpossible.Ihavecorrectednumerousmistran-
scriptions and factual mistakes. I have overhauled as well as standard-
ised my system of references. I have inserted additional illustrations to
strengthen and extend a number of specific points. I have updated my
discussionsofthesecondaryliterature,removingallusionstoyesterday’s
controversies and relating my conclusions to the latest research. I have
triedtomakeuseofthemostup-to-dateeditions,withtheresultthatin
manycasesIhavechangedtheeditionsIpreviouslyused.Ihaverepliedto
criticswhereverthishasseemedappropriate,sometimesqualifyingand
sometimes elaborating my earlier judgements. Finally, I have tinkered
veryextensivelywithmyprose,particularlyintheearliestessaysrepub-
lishedhere.IhavetoneddownthenoisypolemicsIusedtoenjoy;simpli-
fiedthelongsentences,longparagraphsandstylisticcurlicuesIusedto
affect;takengreaterpainstomakeuseofgender-neutrallanguagewher-
everpossible;andabovealltriedtoeliminateoverlapsbetweenchapters
andrepetitionswithinthem.
ix
x Generalpreface
I need to explain the basis on which I have selected the essays for
inclusion in these volumes. I have chosen and grouped them – and in
manycasessuppliedthemwithnewtitles–withtwomaingoalsinmind.
Onehasbeentogiveeachvolumeitsownthematicunity;theotherhas
beentointegratethevolumesinsuchawayastoformalargerwhole.
The chapters in volume , Regarding Method, are all offered as contri-
butionstothearticulationanddefenceofoneparticularviewaboutthe
reading and interpretation of historical texts. I argue that, if we are to
writethehistoryofideasinaproperlyhistoricalstyle,weneedtosituate
the texts we study within such intellectual contexts and frameworks of
discourseasenableustorecognisewhattheirauthorsweredoinginwrit-
ingthem.Tospeakmorefashionably,Iemphasisetheperformativityof
texts and the need to treat them intertextually. My aspiration is not of
coursetoperformtheimpossibletaskofgettinginsidetheheadsoflong-
dead thinkers; it is simply to use the ordinary techniques of historical
enquiry to grasp their concepts, to follow their distinctions, to recover
theirbeliefsand,sofaraspossible,toseethingstheirway.
Theothervolumesarebothconcernedwithleadingthemesinearly-
modern European political thought. In volume , Renaissance Virtues, I
focusonthefortunesofrepublicanismasatheoryoffreedomandgov-
ernment.Ifollowthere-emergenceanddevelopmentfromthethirteenth
tothesixteenthcenturyofatheoryaccordingtowhichthefosteringof
avirtuousandeducatedcitizenryprovidesthekeytoupholdingthelib-
erty of states and individuals alike. My concluding volume, Hobbes and
CivilScience,examinestheevolutionandcharacterofThomasHobbes’s
political thought, concentrating in particular on his theory of the state.
Iconsiderhisviewsaboutthepowerofsovereigns,aboutthedutiesand
libertiesofsubjectsandaboutthegroundsandlimitsofpoliticalobedi-
ence.IattemptinturntorelatetheseissuestoHobbes’schangingviews
aboutthenatureofcivilscienceanditsplaceinhismoregeneralscheme
ofthesciences.
Whilestressingtheunityofeachvolume,Iamanxiousatthesametime
tounderlinetheinterrelationsbetweenthem.Ihaveattemptedinthefirst
placetobringoutageneralconnectionbetweenvolumesand.Aswe
turnfromRenaissancetheoriesofcivicvirtuetoHobbes’scivilscience,
weturnatthesametimefromtheidealofrepublicanself-governmentto
itsgreatestphilosophicaladversary.AlthoughIammainlyconcernedin
volume  with the development of Hobbes’s thought, much of what he
has to say about freedom and political obligation can also be read as a
criticalcommentaryonthevisionofpoliticsoutlinedinvolume .The
Generalpreface xi
linkage in which I am chiefly interested, however, is the one I seek to
tracebetweenthephilosophicalargumentofvolume andthehistorical
materials presented in volumes  and . To put the point as simply as
possible,Iseetherelationshipasoneoftheoryandpractice.Involume 
Ipreachthevirtuesofaparticularapproach;intherestofthebookItry
topractisewhatIpreach.
AsIintimateinmygeneraltitle,VisionsofPolitics,myoverarchinghis-
toricalinterestliesincomparingtwocontrastingviewswehaveinherited
inthemodernWestaboutthenatureofourcommonlife.Onespeaksof
sovereigntyasapropertyofthepeople,theotherseesitasthepossession
ofthestate.Onegivescentralitytothefigureofthevirtuouscitizen,the
othertothesovereignasrepresentativeofthestate.Oneassignspriority
tothedutiesofcitizens,theothertotheirrights.Ithardlyneedsstressing
that the question of how to reconcile these divergent perspectives re-
mainsacentralproblemincontemporarypoliticalthought.Myhighest
hope is that, by excavating the history of these rival theories, I may be
able to contribute something of more than purely historical interest to
thesecurrentdebates.
 
Full Contents: Volumes –
 :  
 Introduction:Seeingthingstheirway page
 Thepracticeofhistoryandthecultofthefact 
 Interpretation,rationalityandtruth 
 Meaningandunderstandinginthehistoryofideas 
 Motives,intentionsandinterpretation 
 Interpretationandtheunderstandingofspeechacts 
 ‘Socialmeaning’andtheexplanationofsocialaction 
 Moralprinciplesandsocialchange 
 Theideaofaculturallexicon 
 Retrospect:Studyingrhetoricandconceptualchange 
 :  
 Introduction:TherealityoftheRenaissance 
 Therediscoveryofrepublicanvalues 
 AmbrogioLorenzettiandtheportrayalofvirtuous
government 
 AmbrogioLorenzettionthepowerandgloryofrepublics 
 Republicanvirtuesinanageofprinces 
 Machiavellionvirtu` andthemaintenanceofliberty 
xii
Fullcontents:volumes– xiii
 Theideaofnegativeliberty:Machiavellianandmodern
perspectives 
 ThomasMore’sUtopiaandthevirtueoftruenobility 
 Humanism,scholasticismandpopularsovereignty 
 MoralambiguityandtheRenaissanceartofeloquence 
 JohnMiltonandthepoliticsofslavery 
 Classicalliberty,RenaissancetranslationandtheEnglish
civilwar 
 AugustanpartypoliticsandRenaissanceconstitutional
thought 
 Fromthestateofprincestothepersonofthestate 
 :    
 Introduction:Hobbes’slifeinphilosophy 
 Hobbesandthestudiahumanitatis 
 Hobbes’schangingconceptionofacivilscience 
 Hobbesonrhetoricandtheconstructionofmorality 
 Hobbesandtheclassicaltheoryoflaughter 
 Hobbesandthepurelyartificialpersonofthestate 
 Hobbesonthepropersignificationofliberty 
 HistoryandideologyintheEnglishrevolution 
 ThecontextofHobbes’stheoryofpoliticalobligation 
 Conquestandconsent:Hobbesandtheengagement
controversy 
 HobbesandhisdisciplesinFranceandEngland 
 HobbesandthepoliticsoftheearlyRoyalSociety 