The statesman's science : history, nature, and law in the political thought of Samuel Taylor Coleridge / Pamela Edwards.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Edwards, Pamela, 1956-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 1772-1834--Political and social views.

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor.

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 1772-1834--Knowledge--Natural history.

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 1772-1834--Knowledge--History.

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 1772-1834--Knowledge--Law.

Political science--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Political science.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (571 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York : Columbia University Press, 2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Author of "Kubla Khan" and the epic "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," Samuel Taylor Coleridge is remembered principally for his contributions as a romantic poet. This innovative reconsideration of Coleridge's thought and career not only demonstrates his importance as a philosopher but also recovers romanticism as both an aesthetic and a political movement. Pamela Edwards radically departs from classic theories of Coleridge's development and reads his writing within the framework of a constantly shifting political and social landscape. Drawing on the ideology, rhetoric, and institutional theory at the turn of the late British Enlightenment, Edwards unearths the fundamental continuities in Coleridge's writing during the revolutionary period of 1794 to 1834, paying particular attention to the rhetoric of Coleridge's pamphlet and miscellaneous writings, the journalism of the Napoleonic years, his philosophical and ultimately political treatises within the contexts of his notebooks and letters, and his readings and intellectual friendships. What emerges is a clearer understanding of Coleridge's political philosophy and his contributions to the origins and ideology of British Liberalism. Coleridge's interest in history, nature, and law as inherently interconnected projects producing an ideal or scientific reading of society reveals a developed progressive social and cultural state theory anchored in individual conscience, moral autonomy, and a civic and participatory human agency. If the Statesman could understand and finally master this scientific view of the world, he would be able not only to adjust political and social institutions to comprehend the historical contingencies of the moment but to see through the problem of the moment to the dynamic of change itself.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction: The Politics of Reputation, or, the Myth of a Modern Apostate

Chapter 1. Romantic Radicalism

Chapter 2. Attacking the State

Chapter 3. Defending the Constitution

Chapter 4. Liberty and Law

Chapter 5. Morality and Will

Chapter 6. Science and Nature

Chapter 7. History and Life

Chapter 8. Defending the Church

Chapter 9. Attacking the Doctrine

Conclusion. Regulating the Body Politic

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [267]-282) and index.

ISBN:

9780231506526

023150652X

OCLC:

213305960