Captives of sovereignty / Jonathan Havercroft.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Havercroft, Jonathan, 1975-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sovereignty--Philosophy.

Sovereignty.

Skepticism.

Philosophy.

Physical Description:

viii, 268 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Summary:

A picture of sovereignty holds the study of politics captive. Captives of Sovereignty looks at the historical origins of this picture of politics, critiques its philosophical, assumptions, and offers a way to move contemporary critiques of sovereignty beyond their current impasse. The first part of the book is diagnostic. Why, despite their best efforts to critique sovereignty, do political scientists who are dissatisfied with the concept continue to reproduce the logic of sovereignty in their thinking? Havercroft draws on the writings of Hobbes and Spinoza to argue that theories of sovereignty are produced and reproduced in response to skepticism. The second part of the book draws on contemporary critiques of skeptical arguments by Wittgenstein and Cavell to argue that their alternative way of responding to skepticism avoids the need to invoke a sovereign as the final arbiter of all political disputes. Book jacket.

Contents:

A picture holds us captive

Sovereignty, judgment and epistemic skepticism

Sovereignty, language, and ethical skepticism

Sovereignty, religious skepticism, and the theological-political problem

Political authority and skepticism

Authority, criteria, and the new social contract

The claim of global community

Conclusion: authority without supremacy, community with contestation.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781107012875

1107012872

OCLC:

710045209

Online:

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description