Abstract
By looking at political thought in historical periods that mirror our own, we can discern patterns of thought which clairvoyantly recognise the new and fearfully retreat to established patterns of thought. Sixteenth-century thought confronts us with the search for newly emerging political orders. Focusing on four thinkers, this paper explicates the emerging pattern. It reflects on the contemporary relevance of sixteenth-century thought and the relevance of the history of ideas.
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Notes
Machiavelli's main texts were only published posthumously in 1931/32.
This, of course, is a logical consequence of his argument that the Church should not be involved in worldly affairs, quite like the worldly princes should keep out of the spiritual guidance of people.
There is some debate in the literature about whether or not More meant the Utopia to describe an ideal society (Nipperdey, 1975). For the purposes of my argument, this does not matter much, because either way More's idea of how a state can be constructed from reasoning and his insistence on the importance of institutional arrangements is not limited to the particular society described in Utopia. It is the way in which he thinks about reacting to the problems of his time, rather than the concrete suggestions he makes, which is so intriguing.
Some might argue that Rousseau makes a similar argument. However, in contrast to More, Rousseau considers a private realm necessary – or at least helpful – for any political system to prevail. He merely denies that any limits to a private realm may be settled eternally in advance (Rousseau, 1977: 32f).
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Debra Bellon, David Budde, Emily Forrington, Stefan Skupien, Björn Uhlig and the participants of the 2009/2010 PS/TWA 15005 as well Daniel Schulz, Alexander Weiss and the editors of this journal for their helpful comments on various drafts. Naturally, all remaining inadequacies are my own.
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Höppner, U. Thinking in Turbulent Times: On the Relevance of Sixteenth-Century Political Thought. Eur Polit Sci 9, 291–303 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1057/eps.2010.29
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/eps.2010.29