- Chicago, Illinois, United States
David Lay Williams
DePaul University, Political Science, Faculty Member
- History of Political Thought, Political Theory, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Rousseau, Baruch Spinoza, and 16 morePlato, Thomas Hobbes, Montesquieu, Early Modern Political Thought, Democratic Theory, Economic Inequality, Political Philosophy, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, Immanuel Kant, History of Philosophy, Jurisprudence, Philosophy Of Law, Moral Psychology, Political Ontology, Enlightenment, and Intellectual History of Enlightenmentedit
- David Lay Williams is professor of political science at DePaul University. He received a Ph.D. from the University of... moreDavid Lay Williams is professor of political science at DePaul University. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin and previously taught political science and philosophy at the University of Wisconsin -- Stevens Point. Professor Williams teaches and conducts research in political theory, especially the history of political thought. He is the author of Rousseau’s Platonic Enlightenment (Penn State, 2007), Rousseau's 'Social Contract': An Introduction (Cambridge, 2014), and numerous articles on thinkers ranging from Plato to Jürgen Habermas and topics such as democratic theory, the separation of powers, social contract theory, religion and politics, terrorism, institutional design, political ontology, fear, love, and deception. He is also co-editor of The General Will: The Evolution of a Concept (with James Farr, Cambridge, 2015) and "Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Fundamental Political Writings," (with Matthew W. Maguire, Broadview, 2018). In 2003-04 and 2008-09 he held research fellowships at the Institute for Research in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and in 2012-13, he held a faculty fellowship at the DePaul Humanities Center. For the 2016-17 academic year, he was a Wicklander Fellow at the Institute for Business and Professional Ethics at DePaul University. He has been invited to speak at numerous universities, including Cambridge University, Dartmouth University, The University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Columbia University, The University of Wisconsin--Madison, and Yale University. Professor Williams has recently completed two projects forthcoming in 2024: 1) The Cambridge Companion to Rousseau's 'Social Contract' (co-edited with Matthew W. Maguire), and 2) The Greatest of All Plagues: How Economic Inequality Shaped Political Thought From Plato to Marx (Princeton University Press)edit
- T. K. Seungedit
Economic inequality is one of the most daunting challenges of our time, with public debate often turning to questions of whether it is an inevitable outcome of economic systems and what, if anything, can be done about it. But why,... more
Economic inequality is one of the most daunting challenges of our time, with public debate often turning to questions of whether it is an inevitable outcome of economic systems and what, if anything, can be done about it. But why, exactly, should inequality worry us? The Greatest of All Plagues demonstrates that this underlying question has been a central preoccupation of some of the most eminent political thinkers of the Western intellectual tradition.
David Lay Williams shares bold new perspectives on the writings and ideas of Plato, Jesus, Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, and Karl Marx. He shows how they describe economic inequality as a source of political instability and a corrupter of character and soul, and how they view unchecked inequality as a threat to their most cherished values, such as justice, faith, civic harmony, peace, democracy, and freedom. Williams draws invaluable insights into the societal problems generated by what Plato called “the greatest of all plagues,” and examines the solutions employed through the centuries.
An eye-opening work of intellectual history, The Greatest of All Plagues recovers a forgotten past for some of the most timeless books in the Western canon, revealing how economic inequality has been a paramount problem throughout the history of political thought.
David Lay Williams shares bold new perspectives on the writings and ideas of Plato, Jesus, Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, and Karl Marx. He shows how they describe economic inequality as a source of political instability and a corrupter of character and soul, and how they view unchecked inequality as a threat to their most cherished values, such as justice, faith, civic harmony, peace, democracy, and freedom. Williams draws invaluable insights into the societal problems generated by what Plato called “the greatest of all plagues,” and examines the solutions employed through the centuries.
An eye-opening work of intellectual history, The Greatest of All Plagues recovers a forgotten past for some of the most timeless books in the Western canon, revealing how economic inequality has been a paramount problem throughout the history of political thought.
Research Interests:
What is freedom? What is equality? What is sovereignty? Few texts have offered more influential answers to these questions than Rousseau’s Social Contract, and in this new Cambridge Companion, a multidisciplinary team of contributors... more
What is freedom? What is equality? What is sovereignty? Few texts have offered more influential answers to these questions than Rousseau’s Social Contract, and in this new Cambridge Companion, a multidisciplinary team of contributors provide new ways to navigate a masterpiece of political philosophy— and its animating questions.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, History of Ideas, Political Theory, Social Contract Theory, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), and 13 morePolitical Theory (Political Science), History of Political Thought, Rousseau, Social contract, Early Modern Political Thought, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Early Modern Philosophy, Political Philosphy, J. J. Rousseau, and "The Social Contract" by Jean Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Fundamental Political Writings includes the Social Contract, Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts, Discourse on the Origins of Inequality, and “Preface to Narcissus.” Each text has been newly translated, and... more
Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Fundamental Political Writings includes the Social Contract, Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts, Discourse on the Origins of Inequality, and “Preface to Narcissus.” Each text has been newly translated, and includes a full complement of explanatory notes. The editors’ introduction offers students diverse points of entry into some of the distinctive possibilities and challenges of each of these fundamental texts, as well as an introduction to Rousseau’s life and historical situation, from his early years in Geneva to his final years in relative solitude. Each text is accompanied by images from the original editions. The volume also includes annotated appendices that help students to explore the origins and influences of Rousseau’s work, including excerpts from Hobbes, Pascal, Descartes, Mandeville, Diderot, Voltaire, Madame de Staël, Benjamin Constant, Joseph de Maistre, Kant, Hegel, and Engels.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Political Philosophy, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, Political Theory, Early Modern History, and 57 moreSocial Contract Theory, Enlightenment, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Intellectual History of Enlightenment, 18th Century Philosophy, History of Political Thought, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, French Political Philosophy, Intellectual and cultural history, History Of Modern Philosophy, 18th- and 19th-century philosophy, 17th and 18th century Philosophy, Social contract, Social and Political Philosophy, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Enlightenment Political Thought, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Moral and Political Philosophy, Social and Political Thought, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Early Modern Philosophy, Modern political theory, Social Inequality, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, Modern Philosophy, History of early modern philosophy, Political Thought, Social Contract Theories, the Enlightenment, French Enlightenment, Inequality, Normative Political Theory, Rousseau and Enlightenment, Social and Political Theory, 18th century Political Thought, Early Modern Political Theory, Modern Western Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Western Political Philosophy, The State of Nature In Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, Social Contract Theory of State, Political Science and Philosophy, J. J. Rousseau, Modern Western Political Thought, The Age of Enlightenment, History of Political Thought (Ancient and Modern), 18th Century Philosophy Literature and Enlightenment Studies, Philosophy of Jean Jacques Rousseau, Rousseau Philosophy, State of Nature and Contract Social Theory, Rousseau, Discourse on Inequality, and Social contract theorists
Although its origins stem from theological debates, the general will would ultimately become one of the most celebrated and denigrated concepts emerging from early modern political thought. Jean-Jacques Rousseau would make it the central... more
Although its origins stem from theological debates, the general will would ultimately become one of the most celebrated and denigrated concepts emerging from early modern political thought. Jean-Jacques Rousseau would make it the central element of his political theory, and it would take on a life of its own during the French Revolution before being subjected to generations of embrace or opprobrium. James Farr and David Lay Williams have collected for the first time a set of essays that track the evolving history of the general will from its origins to recent times. These essays include attention to the general will’s theological, political, formal, and substantive dimensions with a careful eye to the concept’s virtues and limitations as understood by its expositors and critics, among them Pascal, Malebranche, Locke, Spinoza, Montesquieu, Constant, Tocqueville, Adam Smith, and John Rawls.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Ethics, Moral Psychology, and 120 more17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, History of Ideas, Political Theory, Early Modern History, History of Economic Thought, Enlightenment, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Contemporary French Philosophy, U.S. Intellectual History, Early Modern England, Early Modern Europe, Scottish Enlightenment, 17th-Century Studies, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, Love, 18th Century Philosophy, 19th Century Philosophy, Early Modern Science and Philosophy, Locke, Early Modern Philosophy of Religion, History of Political Thought, American Political Thought, Intellectual History of the Baroque Period, Cicero, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, Immanuel Kant, Intellectual and cultural history, Baruch Spinoza, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, John Locke, Adam Smith, Philosophy of Love, Early Modern uses of ancient philosophy, Early Modern economic and social history, John Rawls, Republic of Letters (Early Modern History), History Of Modern Philosophy, 18th- and 19th-century philosophy, 17th and 18th century Philosophy, Social and Political Philosophy, Leibniz (Philosophy), 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Spinoza, Early Modern Political Thought, Political and Social Philosophy, Ethics, Kant's Political Philosophy, French philosophy, Early Modern Christian Theology, 17th Century Dutch Republic, Enlightenment Political Thought, European intellectual history, Early Modern Catholicism, 17th century Europe, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Jansenism, Blaise Pascal, Jean Jaques Rousseau, 19th Century Continental Philosophy, Moral and Political Philosophy, John Rawls (Philosophy), Contemporary Political Theory, 18th-century German philosophy, Alexis de Tocqueville, Social and Political Thought, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Montesquieu, Early Modern Philosophy, International Political Theory, Leibniz, Malebranche, Bossuet, German Enlightenment, Antoine Arnauld, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, Modern Philosophy, History of early modern philosophy, Jonh Locke, Locke's Natural Law philosophy, Political Thought, History of Political Ideas, Eighteenth Century Radical Enlightenment, Benjamin Constant, the Enlightenment, French Enlightenment, Pierre Bayle, John Rawls's theory of justice, Ancient Political Thought, Normative Political Theory, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, Cicero's philosophical works, Tocqueville, 17th century English Political Philosophy, Fraternity, Adam Smith the Wealth of Nations, Benjamin Constant; biografia; república brasileira, Tocqueville, French liberalism, 18th century Political Thought, John Rawls Political Liberalism, General Will, John Winthrop, John Locke's Political Philosophy, 18th and 19th century German philosophy, John Locke's Moral Philosophy, John Locke Second Treatise, History of Philosophy, Ciceronian Eloquence, The State of Nature In Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, Early Modern Philosophy (Descartes, The History of Economic Thought (Especially Adam Smith), J. J. Rousseau, The Age of Enlightenment, Early Modern English Political Philosophy, Rawls, John, Early Modern Intellectual History and the History of Ideas, Rousseau Philosophy, Roman political thought, and Cícero
If the greatness of a philosophical work can be measured by the volume and vehemence of the public response, there is little question that Rousseau's Social Contract stands out as a masterpiece. Within a week of its publication in 1762 it... more
If the greatness of a philosophical work can be measured by the volume and vehemence of the public response, there is little question that Rousseau's Social Contract stands out as a masterpiece. Within a week of its publication in 1762 it was banished from France. Soon thereafter, Rousseau fled to Geneva, where he saw the book burned in public. At the same time, many of his contemporaries, such as Kant, considered Rousseau to be “the Newton of the moral world,” as he was the first philosopher to draw attention to the basic dignity of human nature. The Social Contract has never ceased to be read in the 250 years since it was written. Rousseau's “Social Contract”: An Introduction offers a thorough and systematic tour of this notoriously paradoxical and challenging text. David Lay Williams offers readers a chapter-by-chapter reading of the Social Contract, squarely confronting these interpretive obstacles, leaving no stones unturned. The conclusion connects Rousseau's text both to his important influences and those who took inspiration and sometimes exception to his arguments. The book also features a special extended appendix dedicated to outlining his famous conception of the general will, which has been the object of controversy since the Social Contract's publication.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Law, Jurisprudence, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, and 95 moreKant, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, History of Ideas, International Relations Theory, Political Theory, Marxism, Early Modern History, Plato, Social Contract Theory, Hobbes, Natural Law, Enlightenment, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Philosophy Of Law, Early Modern Europe, Hegel, Kant's Practical Philosophy, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, 18th Century Philosophy, Thomas Hobbes, History of Political Thought, Emmanuel Kant, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, Immanuel Kant, Intellectual and cultural history, G.W.F. Hegel, Moral Philosophy, John Rawls, Early Modern France, History Of Modern Philosophy, Inequality (Economics), 18th- and 19th-century philosophy, 17th and 18th century Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Social contract, Social and Political Philosophy, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Machiavelli, Kant's Political Philosophy, French philosophy, Platonism, Enlightenment Political Thought, European intellectual history, Civil Religion, 18th Century France, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Rawls, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Natural Law Theory, Moral and Political Philosophy, John Rawls (Philosophy), Niccolò Machiavelli, Kant's Ethics, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Early Modern Philosophy, Hegel (Philosophy) (Philosophy), Social Inequality, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, Hegel's Philosophy of Right, State of Nature, Modern Philosophy, History of early modern philosophy, The Hegelian Recognition / The Dialectic of Master and Slave Relationship, Machiavellianism, History of Political Ideas, the Enlightenment, French Enlightenment, Inequality, Theory of International Relations, Poverty and Inequality, John Rawls's theory of justice, History of Social and Political Thought, Plato's Republic, Political Philosophy, Thomas Hobbes, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, Deism, Platón, Enlightment, John Rawls Political Liberalism, General Will, Modern Western Philosophy, History of Philosophy, The State of Nature In Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, The History of Ideas, Social Contract Theory of State, Platonisme, Eighteenth century Philosophy and Literature, J. J. Rousseau, Social Contract Theory by Hobbes, Rousseau Philosophy, and Rousseau, Discourse on Inequality
Although many commentators on Rousseau’s philosophy have noted its affinities with Platonism and acknowledged the debt that Rousseau himself expressed to Plato on numerous occasions, David Williams is the first to offer a thoroughgoing,... more
Although many commentators on Rousseau’s philosophy have noted its affinities with Platonism and acknowledged the debt that Rousseau himself expressed to Plato on numerous occasions, David Williams is the first to offer a thoroughgoing, systematic examination of this linkage. His contributions to the scholarship on Rousseau in this book are threefold: he enters the debate over whether Rousseau is a Hobbesian (in rejecting transcendent norms) or a Platonist (in accepting them) with a decisive argument supporting the latter position; he tackles from a new angle the ever-challenging question of unity in Rousseau’s thought; and he explores the dynamic metaphor of the chain throughout Rousseau’s writings as a key to understanding them as inspired by Platonism.
The book is organized into three main parts. The first sketches the background of Platonism and materialist positivism in modern European metaphysics and political philosophy that provided the context for Rousseau’s intellectual development. The second examines Rousseau’s choice of Platonism over positivism and its consequences for his philosophy generally. The third addresses the legacy of Rousseau’s thought and its appropriation by Kant, Marx, and Foucault, suggesting that in an age where materialism and relativism are rife, Rousseau may have much to teach us about how we view our own society and can engage in constructive critique of it.
The book is organized into three main parts. The first sketches the background of Platonism and materialist positivism in modern European metaphysics and political philosophy that provided the context for Rousseau’s intellectual development. The second examines Rousseau’s choice of Platonism over positivism and its consequences for his philosophy generally. The third addresses the legacy of Rousseau’s thought and its appropriation by Kant, Marx, and Foucault, suggesting that in an age where materialism and relativism are rife, Rousseau may have much to teach us about how we view our own society and can engage in constructive critique of it.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Philosophy, Metaphysics, Political Philosophy, Kant, and 106 more17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, Political Theory, Marxism, Early Modern History, Plato, Social Contract Theory, Idealism, Hobbes, History Of Platonic Tradition, Renaissance Platonism, Ideology, Enlightenment, Early Modern Europe, Kant's Practical Philosophy, Materialism, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, 18th Century Philosophy, Thomas Hobbes, Marxist theory, Locke, Michel Foucault, Early Modern Philosophy of Religion, History of Political Thought, Political Ontology, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, Immanuel Kant, John Locke, Social-Political Philosophy, History Of Modern Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Social contract, Cambridge Platonism, Social and Political Philosophy, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Political and Social Philosophy, Ethics, Metaphysics of Free Will and Moral Responsibility, Kant's Political Philosophy, Platonism, Enlightenment Political Thought, Philosophy of Law, Political Philospohy, Ethics, 18th Century France, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Descartes, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Hobbes, Thomas, Karl Marx, Moral and Political Philosophy, Diderot, Denis, Kant's Ethics, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Kant's Metaphysics, Early Modern Philosophy, Malebranche, Kantian ethics, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, La Mettrie, Marsilio Ficino, Dualism, Cambridge Platonists, Foucault power/knowledge - discourse, Locke's Natural Law philosophy, Marxismo, the Enlightenment, French Enlightenment, Plato's Laws, Separation of Powers, Allegory of the Cave, DIDEROT, Political Philosphy, Ralph Cudworth, Normative Political Theory, Plato's Republic, Political Philosophy, Thomas Hobbes, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, Rousseau and Enlightenment, Nicolas Malebranche, Diderot and D'Alembert's Encyclopedia, ARISTOTLE - PLATO - METAPHYSICS - EPISTEMOLOGY, Christian Platonism, Enlightment, 18th century Political Thought, Francois Salignac De La Mothe-Fenelon, General Will, John Locke's Political Philosophy, John Locke's Moral Philosophy, Plato, Allegory of the Cave, History of Philosophy, The State of Nature In Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, Social Contract Theory of State, Platonisme, Checks and Balances, Early Modern Philosophy (Descartes, Socio Political Philosophy, J. J. Rousseau, Modern Western Political Thought, Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan, Social Contract Theory by Hobbes, Foucault, Rousseau Philosophy, Social Contract Theory by Thomas Hobbes, Bernard Lamy, and Social Contract Theory Locke
A short essay on Rousseau's relationship with Spinoza
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Rousseau has long been understood as a theorist of inequality – though attention to Rousseau has been largely directed to his 1754 Discourse on the Origins of Inequality. While scholars are, naturally, right to address this central work,... more
Rousseau has long been understood as a theorist of inequality – though attention to Rousseau has been largely directed to his 1754 Discourse on the Origins of Inequality. While scholars are, naturally, right to address this central work, they would do well to consider what can be learned from other works, including The Social Contract (1762). In this text, readers often neglect a passage that Rousseau himself highlights: that “the end of every system of legislation . . . comes down to the following two principal objects, freedom and equality” (SC, 2.11). In this essay, I explore Rousseau’s understanding of freedom and equality with special attention to the latter as manifested in the problem of economic inequality. In doing so, further, I detail how his thinking about freedom and equality were shaped by the ancient sources of Plato and Plutarch – his two favorite ancient thinkers. In both ancient sources, it turns out that economic equality is essential to achieving either political freedom or civil harmony. This essay, thus, not only details the centrality of economic equality to Rousseau’s political thought, but also provides a serious account of how he came to this position.
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A short exposition of Founding documents (Federalist Papers and Letters of Brutus) on the theory of human nature underlying the US Constitution.
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This essay outlines the distinctive features of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's conception of sovereignty as the general will.
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While Thomas Hobbes is not typically cited as a philosopher concerned with economic inequality, there is a great deal of evidence in his writings to suggest that he was aware of inequality and worried about its effects on the... more
While Thomas Hobbes is not typically cited as a philosopher concerned with economic inequality, there is a great deal of evidence in his writings to suggest that he was aware of inequality and worried about its effects on the commonwealth. This essay first contextualizes Hobbes in the development of the 17th-century English political economy to understand the mercantilist milieu that might have shaped Hobbes’s thoughts. Second, it then explores Hobbes’s thoughts on wealth, poverty, and inequality, as outlined in his major political works – revealing distinctively Hobbesian grounds for understanding these phenomena. Third and finally, it explores Hobbes’s constructive political philosophy for means by which he might offer prescriptions for addressing them.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Political Economy, Political Philosophy, Moral Psychology, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, and 11 morePolitical Theory, Early Modern History, Poverty, 17th-Century Studies, Thomas Hobbes, Inequality (Economics), 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Poverty and Inequality, Wealth, and Early Modern English Political Philosophy
This essay explores Rousseau's relationship with truth through an exposition of his autobiographical works, especially his Reveries of the Solitary Walker, as well as its implications for understanding the intended role of his Lawgiver in... more
This essay explores Rousseau's relationship with truth through an exposition of his autobiographical works, especially his Reveries of the Solitary Walker, as well as its implications for understanding the intended role of his Lawgiver in the Social Contract.
Research Interests: Political Philosophy, Ethics, Political Theory, Truth, 18th Century Philosophy, and 16 moreDeception / Lying (Deception Lying), Rousseau, History Of Modern Philosophy, Theories Of Truth, Early Modern Political Thought, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Fable, Legislation, Lying, Deception, Truthfulness, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, Lying, Definition of Lying, Fables, and J. J. Rousseau
The tradition of the political lie infamously commences with Plato's Noble Lie in the Republic. It is woven with great care into his utopian state on the premise that Philosopher-Rulers are incorruptible wielders of political power.Most... more
The tradition of the political lie infamously commences with Plato's Noble Lie in the Republic. It is woven with great care into his utopian state on the premise that Philosopher-Rulers are incorruptible wielders of political power.Most treatments of the Noble Lie understand this and then proceed to dismiss Plato on the basis of his unrealistic assumptions about human nature. But when consideration is extended to the Laws, one finds a far more nuanced and relevant Plato uncomfortable with the > practice of political deception. This article elaborates on the Noble Lie and its assumptions, and then explains how the later Plato's increased scepticism about human nature informed a different policy in his Laws.
Research Interests: Ancient History, Political Philosophy, Classics, Political Theory, Plato, and 28 moreDemocratic Theory, History Of Platonic Tradition, Deception / Lying (Deception Lying), History of Political Thought, Classical Political Thought, Ancient Philosophy, Philosophies of Human Nature, Plato and Platonism, Ancient social & political philosophy, Social and Political Philosophy, Ancient Greek History, Classical Political Philosophy, Ancient Greek Philosophy, Platonism, Ancient Greek Politics, Deception, Classical Greek Philosophy, Plato's Laws, Lying, Deception, Truthfulness, Platon, Ancient Political Thought, Plato's Republic, Platón, Lying, Definition of Lying, History of Philosophy, Socio Political Philosophy, and History of Political Thought (Ancient and Modern)
Rousseau's Reveries of a Solitary Walker is enigmatic. It reveals many influences and addresses even more themes. For these reasons and others, political theorists have tended to ignore it in favour of his more overtly political works.... more
Rousseau's Reveries of a Solitary Walker is enigmatic. It reveals many influences and addresses even more themes. For these reasons and others, political theorists have tended to ignore it in favour of his more overtly political works. Yet to dismiss his last work is to neglect what might be a useful tool in unlocking his political theory. This article argues that the Reveries confirm what many have recently suggested-- that Rousseau is a Platonist in many important respects. Further, it holds that his particular brand of Platonism as espoused in the Reveries provides essential epistemic information necessary to carry out his democratic politics--indeed, one far more democratic than Plato's, yet consistent with a Platonic metaphysics.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Philosophy, Metaphysics, Political Philosophy, Moral Psychology, and 46 more17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, Political Theory, Early Modern History, Democratic Theory, Virtue Ethics, Eighteenth Century History, Continental Philosophy, Enlightenment, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Early Modern Europe, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, 18th Century Philosophy, History of Political Thought, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, French Political Philosophy, Democracy, Moral Philosophy, History Of Modern Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Social and Political Philosophy, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, French philosophy, Platonism, Enlightenment Political Thought, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Moral and Political Philosophy, Early Modern Philosophy, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, Modern Philosophy, History of early modern philosophy, the Enlightenment, French Enlightenment, Normative Political Theory, Enlightment, 18th century Political Thought, Early Modern Political Theory, Eighteenth century Philosophy and Literature, J. J. Rousseau, Modern Western Political Thought, Political Philospohy, and Legal and Democratic Theory
This essay clarifies Patrick Riley’s account of G. W. Leibniz by placing Leibniz’s moral and political doctrines in historical perspective. By understanding Leibniz’s practical philosophy as a solution to the same problems confronted by... more
This essay clarifies Patrick Riley’s account of G. W. Leibniz by placing Leibniz’s moral and political doctrines in historical perspective. By understanding Leibniz’s practical philosophy as a solution to the same problems confronted by Thomas Hobbes, one can appreciate the originality and appeal of Riley’s Leibniz — with its emphasis on benevolence and Platonic ideas. By drawing attention to Leibniz’s practical works, Riley has resurrected an important voice in the history of political thought that had been long neglected. The essay concludes with some personal remarks about Riley’s own Leibnizian charity.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Philosophy Of Religion, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, and 72 moreHistory of Ideas, Political Theory, Early Modern History, Seventeenth Century, Continental Philosophy, Enlightenment, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Theodicy, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, Love, Early Modern Philosophy of Religion, History of Political Thought, Early Modern Intellectual History, Intellectual and cultural history, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Moral Philosophy, Philosophy of Love, German Politics, Friendship, History Of Modern Philosophy, 17th and 18th century Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Social and Political Philosophy, Leibniz (Philosophy), 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Political and Social Philosophy, Ethics, Platonism, Enlightenment Political Thought, European intellectual history, European Enlightenment, Modern Political Philosophy, 16th- and 17th-century Philosophy, Moral and Political Philosophy, Monadology, Social and Political Thought, Early Modern Philosophy, Leibniz, German Enlightenment, Theories of Love, Modern Philosophy, History of early modern philosophy, German Philosophy, Political Thought, History of Political Ideas, Charity, Christian Political Thought, Patrick Riley, History of Social and Political Thought, Normative Political Theory, German Classic Philosophy, Social and Political Theory, Monads, 17th century English Political Philosophy, Political and Legal Philosophy. History of Political Thought, Fraternity, history of 17th Century philosophy and science, 18th century Political Thought, Classical German Philosophy, Modern Western Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Early Modern Political Philosophy, The History of Ideas, Early Modern Philosophy (Descartes, History of German Philosophy, Modern Philosophy (Descartes, History of Ideas and Social History, History of Political Thought (Ancient and Modern), Early Modern Intellectual History and the History of Ideas, Seventeenth Century Political Philosophy, German Political Thought, and 16th and 17th Century Religion and Politics
The general will has traditionally been associated with the early modern Platonists, such as Malebranche and Leibniz. Yet careful examination of Benedict Spinoza’s works reveals a prototype of the general will predating the constructions... more
The general will has traditionally been associated with the early modern Platonists, such as Malebranche and Leibniz. Yet careful examination of Benedict Spinoza’s works reveals a prototype of the general will predating the constructions of his famous successors. This is significant not only in reordering the narrative of the general will’s history, but also in revealing an entirely different and original strain that anticipates twentieth-century attempts to forge a post-metaphysical general will.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Free Will, Moral Responsibility, Moral Psychology, and 46 more17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, History of Ideas, Political Theory, Early Modern History, Fear, Early Modern Europe, 17th-Century Studies, Materialism, Benedict de Spinoza, History of Political Thought, Philosophy Of Freedom, Baruch Spinoza, Rationalism, Free Will, Moral Philosophy, Philosophy of Love, History Of Modern Philosophy, Social and Political Philosophy, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Spinoza, Early Modern Political Thought, Political and Social Philosophy, Ethics, Metaphysics of Free Will and Moral Responsibility, 17th Century Dutch Republic, Civil Religion, 17th century Europe, Pantheism, Modern Political Philosophy, Free Will and Moral Responsibility, Compatibilism, Early Modern Philosophy, Compatibilism and incompatibilism, Modern Philosophy, Benedictus Spinoza, Political Uses of Fear, Determinism, Freewill and Determinism, Freedom, Free Will and Incompatibilism, Free will and determinism debate, Free Will and Determinism, Early Modern Political Theory, General Will, History of Philosophy, Early Modern Political Philosophy, and Spínoza
Historians of political thought have been puzzled by Montesquieu's simultaneous appeals to the diversity of human practices and eternal norms of justice. Isaiah Berlin famously referred to this as an impassable “contradiction” burdening... more
Historians of political thought have been puzzled by Montesquieu's simultaneous appeals to the diversity of human practices and eternal norms of justice. Isaiah Berlin famously referred to this as an impassable “contradiction” burdening his work. Careful examination of Rousseau's appropriations from and developments on Montesquieu, however, reveal that these observations are not merely reconcilable—they provide a fruitful way to approach legislation and constitution drafting. This is accomplished by understanding his employment of the principle of transcendent constrained indeterminacy.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Metaphysics, Ontology, Political Philosophy, Ethics, and 46 more17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, Political Theory, Contextualism, Natural Law, Institutional Theory, Enlightenment, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, History of Political Thought, Relativism, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, Intellectual and cultural history, History Of Modern Philosophy, Social and Political Philosophy, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Enlightenment Political Thought, European intellectual history, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Contextualism and relativism, Moral and Political Philosophy, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Montesquieu, Relativism (Philosophy), Early Modern Philosophy, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, Modern Philosophy, Moral Relativism, Cultural Relativism, the Enlightenment, French Enlightenment, Ethical relativism, Separation of Powers, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, Enlightment, Separation of Power, Charles-Louis de Secondat Montesquieu, History of Philosophy, The State of Nature In Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, Political Science and Philosophy, Socio Political Philosophy, J. J. Rousseau, and Modern Western Political Thought
Research Interests: Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Plato, Popular Culture, Harry Potter, and 11 moreAncient Philosophy, Ancient social & political philosophy, Harry Potter studies, Harry Potter, Philosophy and popular culture, Hellenism in Harry Potter (A Study in Mythological and Allegorical Perspective), Magic and Harry Potter, Harry Potter Influences, ring of Gyges, Harry Potter Philosophy, and Potter Harry and Voldemort
Terrorism is perhaps the greatest challenge of the contemporary age. Of all the canonical figures in political theory, Thomas Hobbes is the most likely candidate to offer genuine insight into this problem. Yet although his analysis of the... more
Terrorism is perhaps the greatest challenge of the contemporary age. Of all the canonical figures in political theory, Thomas Hobbes is the most likely candidate to offer genuine insight into this problem. Yet although his analysis of the state of nature is immediately relevant to the diagnosis of this problem, his metaphysics cannot sustain his politics. His aspiration to “immutable” natural laws grounded in the universal motivation of the fear of death crumble when this fear is no longer universal. When terrorists are inspired by a religious ideology that makes them willing to die for their beliefs—and when they benefit from other asymmetries with the civilian populations against which they are arrayed—Hobbes the theorist of war and international relations becomes less relevant than Hobbes the prescriber of “rational” (fearfully pacific) human nature.
Research Interests: Philosophy, Political Philosophy, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, Terrorism, Political Theory, and 34 moreInternational Terrorism, Early Modern History, Hobbes, Fear, Political Violence and Terrorism, 17th-Century Studies, Thomas Hobbes, Moral Philosophy, History Of Modern Philosophy, Social and Political Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Counter terrorism, Modern Political Philosophy, War on Terror, Hobbes, Thomas, Moral and Political Philosophy, Early Modern Philosophy, Modern political theory, Political Uses of Fear, Terrorism and Counter-terrorism, Political Philosophy, Thomas Hobbes, 17th century English Political Philosophy, Fear of Death, Early Modern Poltical Thought, Religion and Terrorism, Terrorism and Counterterrorism, The State of Nature In Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, Early Modern Philosophy (Descartes, Modern Western Political Thought, Early Modern English Political Philosophy, Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan, Social Contract Theory by Hobbes, Social Contract Theory by Thomas Hobbes, and Medieval and Early Modern Political Philosophy
A.P. Martinich's interpretation that in Leviathan Thomas Hobbes believed that the laws of nature are the commands of God and that he did not rely on the Bible to prove this has been criticized by Greg Forster in this journal (2003).... more
A.P. Martinich's interpretation that in Leviathan Thomas Hobbes believed that the laws of nature are the commands of God and that he did not rely on the Bible to prove this has been criticized by Greg Forster in this journal (2003). Forster uses these criticisms to develop his own view that Hobbes was insincere when he professed religious beliefs. We argue that Forster misrepresents Martinich's view, is mistaken about what evidence is relevant to interpreting whether Hobbes was sincere or not, and is mistaken about some of Hobbes's central doctrines. Forster's criticisms are worth discussing at length for at least three reasons. He takes the debate about Hobbes's sincerity to a new level of sophistication; his misinterpretations of Hobbes may become accepted as correct; and his criticisms raise issues about the proper method of interpreting historical texts.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Philosophy Of Religion, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, and 40 moreHistory of Ideas, Political Theory, Early Modern History, Social Contract Theory, Religion and Politics, Hobbes, Natural Law, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Early Modern England, 17th-Century Studies, Thomas Hobbes, Anglicanism (Anglicanism), Early Modern Science and Philosophy, Early Modern Philosophy of Religion, History of Political Thought, Early Modern Intellectual History, Legal positivism, Intellectual and cultural history, Social and Political Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Early Modern Christian Theology, Modern Political Philosophy, Hobbes, Thomas, Natural Law Theory, Moral and Political Philosophy, Early Modern Philosophy, Human Rights and Natural Law, Natural Right, Natural rights, Political Philosophy, Thomas Hobbes, Historiography, early modern national identity, political thought, Early Modern English History, Medieval and Early Modern Christianity, Early Modern Political Theory, History of Philosophy, The State of Nature In Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, Early Modern English Political Philosophy, Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan, Social Contract Theory by Hobbes, and Social Contract Theory by Thomas Hobbes
Patrick Riley has argued that Immanuel Kant was the 'most adequate' of the social contractarians. This reputation was built on Kant's reliance on ideas rather than actual consent to give the contract its legitimacy. The greatest advantage... more
Patrick Riley has argued that Immanuel Kant was the 'most adequate' of the social contractarians. This reputation was built on Kant's reliance on ideas rather than actual consent to give the contract its legitimacy. The greatest advantage in his so doing was to limit the potential of tyrannical or despotic regimes. A danger resides in this approach, however: by ignoring actual consent, one may not get the compliance required to achieve these standards. In this respect, by interpreting Rousseau as likewise committed to ideas, Kant may be bettered by his Genevan predecessor, since Rousseau incorporates both ideas and actual consent. This combination serves the dual function of promising compliance to high ideas -- and in this respect Rousseau might actually be the 'most adequate' of social contract theorists.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Kant, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, and 38 moreHistory of Ideas, Political Theory, Social Contract Theory, Social Justice, Enlightenment, Kant's Practical Philosophy, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, 18th Century Philosophy, Contract Theory, Contract, Emmanuel Kant, Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, History Of Modern Philosophy, Social and Political Philosophy, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Political and Social Philosophy, Ethics, Kant's Political Philosophy, Social and Political Theories of Justice & Human Rights, Enlightenment Political Thought, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Social and Political Thought, Kantian Moral Theory, Kant's Ethics, Early Modern Philosophy, German Enlightenment, Kantian ethics, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, Modern Philosophy, History of Political Ideas, French Enlightenment, Normative Political Theory, Early Modern Philosophy (Descartes, and Philosophy of Immanuel Kant
From the public burnings of the Social Contract occurring immediately following its publication, to Isaiah Berlin's condemnation of Rousseau as "the most sinister and most formidable enemy of liberty in the whole history of modern... more
From the public burnings of the Social Contract occurring immediately following its publication, to Isaiah Berlin's condemnation of Rousseau as "the most sinister and most formidable enemy of liberty in the whole history of modern thought," Jean-Jacques Rousseau has rarely held universal favor among his commentators. The most common charge against him was, and remains, that he provided the essential philosophic tools for the modern tyrant. While this position has numerous and illustrious advocates, I argue that it fails to take into account the whole of Rousseau's thought. Specifically, it ignores his extensive attention to the problem of political power and his attempts to control it with checks and balances. In focusing on Rousseau's specific proposals in his Government of Poland, it is evident that the purpose of his system is to prevent tyranny, rather than to promote it.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Ethics, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, and 68 moreHistory of Ideas, Political Theory, Democratic Theory, Natural Law, Eighteenth Century History, History Of Platonic Tradition, Enlightenment, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Early Modern Europe, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, 18th Century Philosophy, History of Political Thought, Transcendental Philosophy, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, Intellectual and cultural history, Social-Political Philosophy, History Of Modern Philosophy, 18th- and 19th-century philosophy, 17th and 18th century Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Social and Political Philosophy, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Political and Social Philosophy, Ethics, French philosophy, Social and Political Theories of Justice & Human Rights, Enlightenment Political Thought, European intellectual history, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Foundationalism & Antifoundationalism, Moral and Political Philosophy, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Early Modern Philosophy, Institutional Design, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, Modern Philosophy, History of Political Ideas, Eighteenth Century Radical Enlightenment, the Enlightenment, French Enlightenment, Political Philosphy, Platonic philosophy, Normative Political Theory, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, Social and Political Theory, Tyranny, Eighteenth Century political thought, 18th century Political Thought, Early Modern Political Theory, Eighteenth-century philosophy, Eighteenth and Nineteenth century political philosophy, History of Philosophy, Theory of Political Representation, The State of Nature In Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, The History of Ideas, Checks and Balances, Eighteenth century Philosophy and Literature, Political Science and Philosophy, Socio Political Philosophy, J. J. Rousseau, Modern Western Political Thought, Early Modern Intellectual History and the History of Ideas, Philosophy of Jean Jacques Rousseau, and Rousseau Philosophy
I argue that the positivist reading of Rousseau is flawed. Indeed, my thesis is that he is among the greatest and most thorough Platonists of the modern era. His rejection of Hobbes is not merely rhetorical. In fact, it represents the... more
I argue that the positivist reading of Rousseau is flawed. Indeed, my thesis is that he is among the greatest and most thorough Platonists of the modern era. His rejection of Hobbes is not merely rhetorical. In fact, it represents the true impetus of his social contract. This contract is designed explicitly to counter Hobbesian positivism. In the same way that Plato responds to Protagoras' positivism with his theory of the Forms, Rousseau responds to Hobbes's brutish Leviathan with a morally grounded social contract. To this extent, he is following in the footsteps of Locke who through his theory of natural law also hoped to avoid the problems associated with Hobbes's positivism. Unlike Locke, however, he appeals to the abstract Idea of Justice, rather than a determinate set of rules. To do this, he necessarily rests upon a later version of Platonic Forms—one that is both transcendent and indeterminate. He does this, I argue, by placing the idea of Justice prior to the General Will itself. In understanding Rousseau this way, we are able to make new sense of the standards to which the General Will must conform and his frequent references to the Idea of Justice.
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Philosophy, Metaphysics, Political Philosophy, Ethics, and 50 more17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, History of Ideas, Political Theory, Plato, Social Contract Theory, Natural Law, Social Justice, Enlightenment, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, Justice, 18th Century Philosophy, History of Political Thought, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, Legal positivism, Intellectual and cultural history, History Of Modern Philosophy, 17th and 18th century Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Social contract, Social and Political Philosophy, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Platonism, Enlightenment Political Thought, European intellectual history, 18th Century France, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Natural Law Theory, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Early Modern Philosophy, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, Positivism, History of Political Ideas, the Enlightenment, French Enlightenment, Platonic Ideas, Normative Political Theory, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, Eighteenth Century political thought, 18th century Political Thought, Early Modern Political Theory, General Will, Platonisme, J. J. Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History and the History of Ideas, and Social Contract Theory by Hobbes
This paper argues that contemporary theories of deliberative democracy, as exemplified in Jürgen Habermas and James S. Fishkin, falsely claim to operate free from metaphysical assumptions. Rather than do as they purport, they smuggle in... more
This paper argues that contemporary theories of deliberative democracy, as exemplified in Jürgen Habermas and James S. Fishkin, falsely claim to operate free from metaphysical assumptions. Rather than do as they purport, they smuggle in a "hidden ontology" of substantive values. The author argues that deliberation is honest and enhanced when these values are explicit and properly labeled.
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Philosophy, Metaphysics, Ontology, Political Philosophy, and 38 morePolitical Theory, Democratic Theory, Frankfurt School (Philosophy), Dialogue, Jurgen Habermas, Continental Philosophy, Public Deliberation, Deliberative Democracy, Justice, Political Ontology, Democracy, New Models Of Participatory And Direct Democracy, Participatory Democracy, The Frankfurt School, Social and Political Philosophy, Frankfurt School, Habermas, Contemporary Political Philosophy, Moral and Political Philosophy, Contemporary Political Theory, Deliberation, Jürgen Habermas, Political Philosophy, Theory of Deliberative Democracy, Deliberative decision making; organizational democracy; Habermas, Jurgen Habermas Marxism Frankfurt School Reason and Freedom, Normative Political Theory, Democratic Deliberation, Social philosophy, Ethics, Political ontology, Habermas public sphere, Habermas and the Public Sphere, Deliberative Polling, Public Dialogue and Deliberation, Participatory and Deliberative Democracy, Socio Political Philosophy, Deliberative Democracy and Conflict, Critical Theory/Frankfurt School, Critical Theory (Jürgen Habermas and Paul Ricoeur), Philosophy of Development, Globalization, Conflict of Freedom and Religious Values (Charles Taylor, Jürgen Habermas, Joseph Ratzinger), Cross-Cultural Communication, and Deconstruction, and 20th Century Political Theory
Ronald Dworkin was among the most important and influential Anglo-American philosophers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, standing at the intersection of legal and political thought. Dworkin published numerous books, articles,... more
Ronald Dworkin was among the most important and influential Anglo-American philosophers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, standing at the intersection of legal and political thought. Dworkin published numerous books, articles, and essays on a wide variety of topics related to legal, political, and moral philosophy, including civil disobedience, rights, community, abortion, constitutional law, democratic theory, pragmatism, terrorism, taxation, religion, and pornography. While influential in all these realms, however, his greatest impact and influence came through his contributions to jurisprudence and the philosophy of justice.Keywords:equality;justice;legal theory;liberal theoryequality;justice;legal theory;liberal theory
Research Interests: Jurisprudence, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Political Theory, Liberalism, and 17 moreSocial Justice, Philosophy Of Law, Egalitarianism, Distributive Justice, Justice, Equality, Theories of Justice, Legal positivism, Ronald Dworkin, General Jurisprudence, Social and Political Philosophy, Liberalism and Republicanism, Judicial Decision-Making, Positivism, Contemporary Liberalism, Legal Positivism Vs Natural Law, and HLA Hart
Research Interests: Philosophy, Metaphysics, Political Philosophy, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, Political Theory, and 35 moreEnlightenment, Materialism, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, Metaphysics of Mind, 18th Century Philosophy, Early Modern Science and Philosophy, History of Political Thought, Free Will, Historical Materialism, History Of Modern Philosophy, 18th Century Enlightenment, Early Modern Political Thought, Metaphysics of Free Will and Moral Responsibility, Enlightenment Political Thought, 18th Century France, European Enlightenment, Modern Political Philosophy, Early Modern Philosophy, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, La Mettrie, Modern Philosophy, Determinism, Eighteenth Century Radical Enlightenment, Freewill and Determinism, the Enlightenment, French Enlightenment, Determinismo, Free will and determinism debate, Eighteenth Century political thought, 18th century Political Thought, Early Modern Political Theory, Early Modern metaphysics, History of Philosophy, Les Philosophes, and The French Philosophes
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Political Philosophy, Kant, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, History of Ideas, and 33 moreTheology, Political Theory, Religion and Politics, Enlightenment, Theodicy, Hegel, Kant's Practical Philosophy, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, Emmanuel Kant, Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, G.W.F. Hegel, History Of Modern Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Kant's Political Philosophy, Early Modern Christian Theology, Enlightenment Political Thought, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Early Modern Philosophy, Malebranche, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, Modern Philosophy, the Enlightenment, French Enlightenment, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, General Will, History of Philosophy, The State of Nature In Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, and J. J. Rousseau
Book Review of John P. McCormick's "Reading Machiavelli"
Research Interests: Political Philosophy, Political Theory, Renaissance Humanism, Rousseau, Early Modern Italy, and 13 moreSocial and Political Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Renaissance Political Thought, Machiavelli, Leo Strauss, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Niccolò Machiavelli, Early Modern Philosophy, Quentin Skinner, Social Inequality, Machiavellianism, and Poverty and Inequality
A review of Ryan Patrick Hanely's "Love's Enlightenment: Rethinking Charity in Modernity"
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A draft version of a review essay forthcoming in Perspectives on Politics
Research Interests: Economics, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Ethics, Applied Ethics, and 24 morePolitical Theory, Utilitarianism, Economic Inequality, Moral Philosophy, Inequality (Economics), Social and Political Philosophy, Political and Social Philosophy, Ethics, Contemporary Political Philosophy, Moral and Political Philosophy, Contemporary Political Theory, Social and Political Thought, Social Inequality, Income inequality, Moral and Social Philosophy, Inequality, Poverty and Inequality, Frankfurt, Harry, Economic Growth, Poverty, and Income Inequality, Normative Political Theory, Social and Political Theory, Harry Frankfurt, Political Science and Philosophy, Socio Political Philosophy, and Moral Philosophy
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Metaphysics, Ontology, Political Philosophy, Kant, and 8 moreHistory of Ideas, Political Theory, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Kant's Practical Philosophy, History of Political Thought, Immanuel Kant, Social and Political Philosophy, and Kant's Political Philosophy
Forthcoming in Political Theory: An International Journal of Political Philosophy
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Free Will, Moral Responsibility, Moral Psychology, and 67 more17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, History of Ideas, Political Theory, Early Modern History, Equality Studies, Enlightenment, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Early Modern Europe, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, 18th Century Philosophy, Equality, History of Political Thought, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, 18th Century French Literature, Economic Inequality, Intellectual and cultural history, Free Will, Moral Philosophy, Early Modern France, History Of Modern Philosophy, Inequality (Economics), History of Moral Philosophy, Social and Political Philosophy, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Social Inequality (Anthropology), Metaphysics of Free Will and Moral Responsibility, French philosophy, Enlightenment Political Thought, Leo Strauss, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Free Will and Moral Responsibility, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Moral and Political Philosophy, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Early Modern Philosophy, Social Inequality, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, Income inequality, Modern Philosophy, Esotericism, Moral and Social Philosophy, Determinism, History of Political Ideas, the Enlightenment, French Enlightenment, Inequality, Poverty and Inequality, Normative Political Theory, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, Free will and determinism debate, 18th century Political Thought, Philosophy of mind Free will and Consciousness, Free Will and Determinism, Early Modern Political Theory, Social Stratification and Inequality, Social, Political and Economic Inequality, History of Philosophy, The State of Nature In Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, J. J. Rousseau, Modern Western Political Thought, Modern Western Political Theory, Early Modern Intellectual History and the History of Ideas, and Rousseau Philosophy
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Political Philosophy, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, History of Ideas, Political Theory, and 24 morePhilosophy of Education, Enlightenment, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, 18th Century Philosophy, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, French Political Philosophy, Social and Political Philosophy, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Enlightenment Political Thought, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, the Enlightenment, French Enlightenment, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, EMILE, The State of Nature In Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, J. J. Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History and the History of Ideas, and Rousseau Philosophy
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Book Review for Political Studies Review, forthcoming, vol. 14, no. 4 (Fall 2015).
Research Interests: Philosophy, Metaphysics, Ontology, Political Theory, History of Social Sciences, and 10 moreContinental Philosophy, Hegel, 19th Century Philosophy, Social Ontology, G.W.F. Hegel, 18th- and 19th-century philosophy, 19th-century German philosophy, Hegel (Philosophy) (Philosophy), 19th and 20th-century European philosophy, and Continental Political Thought
A review of "Parasite" and interpretation of the film's "scholar's stone."
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Op-ed outlining the prescribed role of virtue in republican constitutions and how it is increasingly endangered in contemporary political practice.
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A critique of David Brooks's dismissal of economic inequality, employing some of Brooks's favorite books. This essay reveals that inequality and class war have long been considered one of the most serious problems of politics, not an... more
A critique of David Brooks's dismissal of economic inequality, employing some of Brooks's favorite books. This essay reveals that inequality and class war have long been considered one of the most serious problems of politics, not an easily dismissed inconvenience.
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Insights from Rousseau's general will on why the impeachment charges matter for republican governments.
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Reflections on 25 years of teaching The Federalist, especially in light of the current presidential administration.
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Contribution to the Washington Post's Monkey Cage series
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Drawing on the ancient Greeks for thoughts about the rule of law as people contemplate whether or not the president should be vulnerable to indictment.
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A retort to Jason D. Hill's "call to shut down our nation's universities," focusing on his association of canonical texts with conservative orthodoxy.
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A eulogy to the liberal arts in Stevens Point, Wisconsin -- on what is lost with their elimination in institutions of higher learning.
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A treatment of Steven Pinker's "Enlightenment Now" with regard to his discussion of economic inequality.
Research Interests: Enlightenment, Scottish Enlightenment, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, Rousseau, Economic Inequality, and 18 moreAdam Smith, Inequality (Economics), Enlightenment Political Thought, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Social Inequality, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, Income inequality, the Enlightenment, French Enlightenment, Inequality, Poverty and Inequality, Steven Pinker, The History of Economic Thought (Especially Adam Smith), J. J. Rousseau, and The Age of Enlightenment
Understanding Louise Linton's "Let them eat cake" moment via the moral psychology of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
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A response to Michael Gerson's suggestion that Trump embodies the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and his general will.
Research Interests: Political Philosophy, Political Theory, Populism, Rousseau, Social and Political Philosophy, and 9 moreJean-Jacques Rousseau, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, General Will, J. J. Rousseau, Philosophy of Jean Jacques Rousseau, Rousseau Philosophy, and Donald Trump
Earlier this week, a heavily armed man stormed a popular family restaurant in Washington, DC on the theory that it harbored child sex slaves. He discharged his weapon on an interior door and pointed his assault rifle at one of the pizza... more
Earlier this week, a heavily armed man stormed a popular family restaurant in Washington, DC on the theory that it harbored child sex slaves. He discharged his weapon on an interior door and pointed his assault rifle at one of the pizza chefs before surrendering to police – but not before completing his search for the telltale signs of an elaborate sex slave scheme at the pizzeria. Of course, there was no such insidious scheme. Its purported existence was a fabrication that gained traction in social media as the latest chapter in an increasingly alarming trend of fake news stories.
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A discussion of Donald Trump through the lens of Thrasymachus and Plato's understanding of pleonexia
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A response to the argument by Deidre McCloskey and others that poverty, and not inequality, is the real social problem with an appeal to Adam Smith and Plato, among others.
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On Wednesday, President Obama fulfilled his constitutional duty of nominating Merrick Garland to replace the recently deceased Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. And now many Republican senators have affirmed their intention... more
On Wednesday, President Obama fulfilled his constitutional duty of nominating Merrick Garland to replace the recently deceased Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. And now many Republican senators have affirmed their intention of refusing to hold confirmation hearings on two grounds. The first is that the Constitution does not require that the Senate vote on presidential nominees. The second is that the office can be vacant until after the November presidential election, when the national popular will declares itself at the ballot box and an appointment can be made consistent with that will.
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An op-ed explaining Donald Trump's popularity via the insights of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Adam Smith
Research Interests: History of Economic Thought, 18th Century Philosophy, History of Political Thought, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, and 13 moreAdam Smith, History Of Modern Philosophy, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Amour-Propre, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, 18th century Political Thought, History of Philosophy, The History of Economic Thought (Especially Adam Smith), J. J. Rousseau, and Donald Trump
A short piece outlining the reasons Adam Smith thought economic inequality to be a serious problem in commercial societies.
Research Interests: Economics, History of Economic Thought, Scottish Enlightenment, 18th Century Philosophy, History of Political Thought, and 16 moreMoral Philosophy, Adam Smith, History Of Modern Philosophy, Inequality (Economics), Social and Political Philosophy, Modern Political Philosophy, Early Modern Philosophy, 18th Century Economics, Social Inequality, Modern Philosophy, Moral Sense, Inequality, Poverty and Inequality, Scottish Philosophy, History of Philosophy, and Modern Political Theory; History of Political Thought (Modern) - Hobbes to Marx
Research Interests: Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Environmental Philosophy, Climate Change, Political Theory, and 24 moreDemocratic Theory, Climate change policy, Enlightenment, Environmental Ethics, Environmental Political Theory, Environmental Policy and Governance, Rousseau, Democracy, Inequality (Economics), Environmental ethics (Philosophy) (Philosophy), Social and Political Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Environmental movements, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Modern political theory, Social Inequality, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, Environmental Ethics and Environmental Issues, J. J. Rousseau, Rousseau Philosophy, and People's Climate March
Research Interests: Political Philosophy, Political Theory, Poverty, Social Justice, Enlightenment, and 29 moreEgalitarianism, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, Distributive Justice, Justice, 18th Century Philosophy, Equality, Rousseau, Economic Inequality, Inequality (Economics), Social and Political Philosophy, Social Inequality (Anthropology), French philosophy, Social and Political Theories of Justice & Human Rights, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Social Inequality, Income inequality, French Enlightenment, Inequality, Poverty and Inequality, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, Wealth inequality, Economic equality, J. J. Rousseau, Theories of Mobility and Inequality, Economics of Inequality, Rousseau Philosophy, and Piketty
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Education, Enlightenment, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, Education Policy, and 11 moreThomas Aquinas, History of Political Thought, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, Inequality (Economics), Jean Jaques Rousseau, Montesquieu, Social Inequality, Voltaire, Texas Government, and History of Philosophy
Research Interests: 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, Early Modern History, Social Contract Theory, Enlightenment, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, and 15 moreHistory of Political Thought, History of Political Science, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, History Of Modern Philosophy, Social contract, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Social Inequality, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, Inequality, History of Philosophy, The State of Nature In Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, and J. J. Rousseau
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Research Interests: Intellectual History, Political Philosophy, Kant, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, History of Ideas, and 49 morePolitical Theory, Early Modern History, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Early Modern Europe, Kant's Practical Philosophy, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, 18th Century Philosophy, Locke, History of Political Thought, Cicero, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, Immanuel Kant, Intellectual and cultural history, Baruch Spinoza, John Locke, History Of Modern Philosophy, Social and Political Philosophy, Spinoza, Early Modern Political Thought, Political and Social Philosophy, Ethics, Kant's Political Philosophy, French philosophy, European intellectual history, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Moral and Political Philosophy, Alexis de Tocqueville, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Montesquieu, Early Modern Philosophy, International Political Theory, Malebranche, Modern political theory, Modern Philosophy, History of Political Ideas, Benjamin Constant, Normative Political Theory, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, John Winthrop, History of Philosophy, Theory of Political Representation, The State of Nature In Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, Political Science and Philosophy, Socio Political Philosophy, J. J. Rousseau, Modern Western Political Thought, and Rousseau Philosophy
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Political Philosophy, History of Ideas, Political Theory, Social Contract Theory, and 28 moreEnlightenment, Early Modern Europe, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, Early Modern Philosophy of Religion, History of Political Thought, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, French Political Philosophy, Intellectual and cultural history, History Of Modern Philosophy, Social contract, Social and Political Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Social and Political Theories of Justice & Human Rights, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Early Modern Philosophy, Modern Philosophy, History of Political Ideas, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, General Will, History of Philosophy, The State of Nature In Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, Social Contract Theory of State, J. J. Rousseau, and Rousseau Philosophy
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Ethics, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, and 57 moreHistory of Ideas, International Relations Theory, Political Theory, Early Modern History, Social Philosophy, Social Contract Theory, Eighteenth Century History, Enlightenment, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Early Modern Europe, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, Eighteenth-Century French Studies, 18th Century Philosophy, Ethical Theory, Early Modern Philosophy of Religion, History of Political Thought, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, Intellectual and cultural history, Moral Philosophy, History Of Modern Philosophy, History of Moral Philosophy, Social contract, Social and Political Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Political and Social Philosophy, Ethics, French philosophy, Enlightenment Political Thought, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Moral and Political Philosophy, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Early Modern Philosophy, Modern political theory, Social Inequality, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, Modern Philosophy, Moral and Social Philosophy, the Enlightenment, French Enlightenment, Eighteenth Century Studies, Geneva, Normative Political Theory, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, Enlightment, 18th century Political Thought, Early Modern Political Theory, History of Philosophy, Early Modern Political Philosophy, Social Contract Theory of State, Socio Political Philosophy, J. J. Rousseau, Social Contract Theory by Hobbes, Rousseau Philosophy, and Moral Philosophy
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Metaphysics, Political Philosophy, History of Ideas, Political Theory, and 27 moreHobbes, Enlightenment, Kant's Practical Philosophy, Materialism, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, Thomas Hobbes, History of Political Thought, Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, Free Will, Plato and Platonism, Social and Political Philosophy, Kant's Political Philosophy, Enlightenment Political Thought, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, the Enlightenment, French Enlightenment, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, Enlightment, History of Philosophy, The State of Nature In Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, J. J. Rousseau, and Rousseau Philosophy
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Philosophy, Metaphysics, Political Philosophy, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, and 38 morePolitical Theory, Early Modern History, Hobbes, Enlightenment, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, 18th Century Philosophy, History of Political Thought, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, French Political Philosophy, History Of Modern Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, 18th Century Enlightenment, Social and Political Philosophy, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Enlightenment Political Thought, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Early Modern Philosophy, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, Counter-Enlightenment, Modern Philosophy, Eighteenth Century Radical Enlightenment, the Enlightenment, French Enlightenment, Normative Political Theory, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, Enlightment, History of Philosophy, The State of Nature In Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, J. J. Rousseau, Modern Western Political Thought, Rousseau Philosophy, and Philosophes
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Metaphysics, Political Philosophy, Ethics, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, and 34 morePolitical Theory, Early Modern History, Enlightenment, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Early Modern Europe, Philosophy of History, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, 18th Century Philosophy, History of Political Thought, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, French Political Philosophy, History Of Modern Philosophy, Social and Political Philosophy, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Enlightenment Political Thought, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Moral and Political Philosophy, Social and Political Thought, Early Modern Philosophy, Modern political theory, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, Political Thought, French Enlightenment, Normative Political Theory, History of Political Theory, Early Modern Political Theory, History of Philosophy, Socio Political Philosophy, and J. J. Rousseau
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Philosophy, Metaphysics, Political Philosophy, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, and 48 moreHistory of Ideas, Political Theory, Social Contract Theory, Social Justice, Enlightenment, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Intellectual History of Enlightenment, Early Modern Science and Philosophy, History of Political Thought, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, Intellectual and cultural history, Moral Philosophy, History Of Modern Philosophy, Social contract, Social and Political Philosophy, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Enlightenment Political Thought, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Early Modern Philosophy, Modern political theory, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, Modern Philosophy, History of early modern philosophy, History of Political Ideas, Eighteenth Century Radical Enlightenment, the Enlightenment, French Enlightenment, History of Social and Political Thought, Normative Political Theory, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, Rousseau and Enlightenment, Political and Legal Philosophy. History of Political Thought, 18th century Political Thought, Early Modern Political Theory, History of Philosophy, The State of Nature In Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, Early Modern Philosophy (Descartes, J. J. Rousseau, Early Modern English Political Philosophy, Early Modern Intellectual History and the History of Ideas, Social Contract Theory by Hobbes, and Rousseau Philosophy
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Political Philosophy, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, Political Theory, Early Modern History, and 34 moreEnlightenment, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Early Modern Europe, Philosophy of History, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, 18th Century Philosophy, Early Modern Science and Philosophy, History of Political Thought, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, Intellectual and cultural history, Early Modern France, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, French Early Modern, Enlightenment Political Thought, European intellectual history, 18th Century France, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Early Modern Philosophy, German Enlightenment, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, the Enlightenment, French Enlightenment, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, Enlightment, Diderot, French Enlightenment, Aesthetics, Early Modern Political Theory, History of Philosophy, J. J. Rousseau, and Philosophy of Jean Jacques Rousseau
Research Interests: Philosophy, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, Political Theory, Enlightenment, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, and 22 more18th Century Philosophy, History of Political Thought, Rousseau, History Of Modern Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Social and Political Philosophy, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Enlightenment Political Thought, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Early Modern Philosophy, Modern political theory, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, French Enlightenment, 18th century Political Thought, Early Modern Political Theory, History of Philosophy, Early Modern Philosophy (Descartes, and J. J. Rousseau
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Political Philosophy, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, History of Ideas, Political Theory, and 20 moreEnlightenment, Early Modern Europe, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, History of Political Thought, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, Social and Political Philosophy, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Enlightenment Political Thought, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Jean Jaques Rousseau, German Enlightenment, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, the Enlightenment, French Enlightenment, Enlightment, History of Philosophy, and J. J. Rousseau
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, History of Ideas, and 45 morePolitical Theory, Early Modern History, Idealism, Eighteenth Century History, Enlightenment, Early Modern Europe, Materialism, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, Eighteenth-Century French Studies, 18th Century Philosophy, History of Political Thought, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, Intellectual and cultural history, History Of Modern Philosophy, 18th- and 19th-century philosophy, 17th and 18th century Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Social and Political Philosophy, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Enlightenment Political Thought, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Early Modern Philosophy, Epicureanism, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, Counter-Enlightenment, Modern Philosophy, Eighteenth Century Radical Enlightenment, the Enlightenment, French Enlightenment, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, Epicureanism and Stoicism, 18th century Political Thought, History of Philosophy, The State of Nature In Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, Early Modern Philosophy (Descartes, J. J. Rousseau, 18th Century Philosophy Literature and Enlightenment Studies, Rousseau Philosophy, and Philosophes
Research Interests: Intellectual History, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Ethics, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, and 24 morePolitical Theory, Enlightenment, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, 18th Century Philosophy, History of Political Thought, Rousseau, Intellectual and cultural history, Plato and Platonism, Social and Political Philosophy, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Early Modern Political Thought, Enlightenment Political Thought, European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, Intelectual History, French Enlightenment, Rousseau Philosophy Continental Philosophy, 18th century Political Thought, Early Modern Political Theory, History of Philosophy, The State of Nature In Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, and J. J. Rousseau
An account of my debts to my recently departed and beloved undergraduate mentor, Gregg Franzwa (1944-2016), who taught Philosophy at Texas Christian University.
Research Interests: Philosophy and Mentoring
A tribute to my dissertation supervisor, T. K. Seung, who taught Philosophy, Government, and Law at the University of Texas at Austin from 1966-2015, on the occasion of his retirement.
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Research Interests: Intellectual History, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Kant, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, and 32 moreHistory of Ideas, Political Theory, Early Modern History, History Of Political Thought (Political Science), Early Modern Europe, Kant's Practical Philosophy, 18th Century Philosophy, History of Political Thought, Emmanuel Kant, Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History, Immanuel Kant, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, History Of Modern Philosophy, Social and Political Philosophy, Leibniz (Philosophy), Early Modern Political Thought, Kant's Political Philosophy, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Modern Political Philosophy, Jean Jaques Rousseau, Early Modern Philosophy, Leibniz, History of Political Ideas, Patrick Riley, History of Political Theory, Political and Legal Philosophy. History of Political Thought, 18th century Political Thought, General Will, J. J. Rousseau, Early Modern Intellectual History and the History of Ideas, and Philosophy of Immanuel Kant
An introduction to the subfield of political theory for undergraduate students
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A talk delivered on the occasion of Constitution Day at Manchester University (Indiana) on September 19, 2019. It outlines some of the central principles sketched by Madison and Hamilton in the Federalist with some reflections on how... more
A talk delivered on the occasion of Constitution Day at Manchester University (Indiana) on September 19, 2019. It outlines some of the central principles sketched by Madison and Hamilton in the Federalist with some reflections on how these principles are threatened in the contemporary political context.
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Remarks on the occasion of the TCU Political Science Department
Celebration of Achievement
May 1, 2019
Celebration of Achievement
May 1, 2019
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My remarks at Chicago's Seminary Co-op Bookstore in honor of the release of John P. Mccormick's "Reading Machiavelli" (Princeton, 2018)
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This paper traces thought on the rule of law in Ancient Athens through Sophocles and Plato