History and Modernity in the Thought of Thomas Hobbes / Robert Kraynak.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kraynak, Robert, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Behemoth.

Hobbes, Thomas.

Historiography--Great Britain--History--17th century.

Historiography.

Great Britain--History--Puritan Revolution, 1642-1660--Historiography.

Great Britain.

Great Britain--History--Civil War, 1642-1649--Historiography.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (224 pages)

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press, [2019]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Robert Kraynak offers a radical reinterpretation of the political thought of Thomas Hobbes and a new assessment of Hobbes's contribution to the origins and problems of modernity. The author argues that it is necessary to examine a neglected facet of Hobbes's thought-his writings on history, especially Behemoth, his lengthy study of the English Civil War. Through a close reading of these works, Kraynak shows how Hobbes came to consider the possibility of a new kind of political science, one that is supremely confident of the power of critical reason to overcome the authorities of the past to build a new form of civilization yet uncertain about reason's foundations.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. The History of Barbarism and Civilization

2. The Behemoth: Doctrinal Politics and the English Civil War

3. The Methodical Analysis of Opinion

4. The Science of Enlightenment

5. The Enlightened Mind and the Science of Nature

6. The Enlightened Mind and the Science of Politics

7. Absolute Sovereignty and the End of Doctrinal Warfare

8. The Dogmatism of the Enlightenment and the New Doctrinal Politics

Selected Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 26. Nov 2019)

ISBN:

1-5017-4599-9

OCLC:

1125112204