- Paperback: 156 pages
- Publisher: Cambridge University Press (13 Nov 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0521638763
- ISBN-13: 978-0521638760
- Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 13.8 x 1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 384,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'Liberty Before Liberalism is a meditation both on the methods of intellectual historiography and an exemplar of them. Nobody who knows of Skinner or his work … can doubt his command of his subject, or his acute generosity to other scholars.' The Times Literary Supplement
Product Description
This extended essay by one of the world's leading historians seeks, in its first part, to excavate, and to vindicate, the neo-Roman theory of free citizens and free states as it developed in early-modern Britain. This analysis leads on to a powerful defence of the nature, purposes and goals of intellectual history and the history of ideas. As Quentin Skinner says, 'the intellectual historian can help us to appreciate how far the values embodied in our present way of life, and our present ways of thinking about those values, reflect a series of choices made at different times between different possible worlds'. This essay thus provides one of the most substantial statements yet made about the importance, relevance and potential excitement of this form of historical enquiry. Liberty before Liberalism is based on Quentin Skinner's Inaugural Lecture as Regius Professor of Modern History in the University of Cambridge, delivered in November 1997. Professor Skinner has been awarded the Balzan Prize Life Time Achievement Award for Political Thought, History and Theory. Full details of this award can be found at http://www.balzan.it/News_eng.aspx?ID=2474
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First Sentence
When civil war broke out in England in 1642, the ideological initiative was at first seized by the opponents of Charles I's regime. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
When civil war broke out in England in 1642, the ideological initiative was at first seized by the opponents of Charles I's regime. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a well-reseached and concisely argued book which would get five stars if only Skinner would make some intuitive leaps to present the further conclusions of his findings in a manner more generally relevant to us. As it is, however, this is a masterly-crafted and important piece of a larger puzzle that will tell you everything you need to know about the philosophical positions regarding the subject, yet won't leave you with any clear picture on its own.
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2 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Excavates a pre-liberal theory of liberty
14 Sep 2008
Format:Paperback
Slim but packed with first rate scholarship, Skinner mines conceptions of Liberty pre-Enlightenment. What is freedom really? Is a slave free if his master is lenient and gives him license to roam? Drawing on authors such as Hobbes, Milton, Locke, Thomas More Skinner explores what he calls a neo-Roman theory of liberty. A core of a sphere of freedom for the individual apart from the intrusive perogatives of kings and masters. Highly recommended for the intelligent political thinker who wants to explore ideas of liberty as they stretch back before the modern era.
11 of 17 people found the following review helpful
A Very Interesting Work
2 Nov 1998
Format:Hardcover
This is very interesting work. The classical republican, or as the author calla it the "neo-roman" thread of thought is dealt with extensively and profoundly within this slim volume. To be honest, I picked this book up primarily because of the text pertaining to Algernon Sidney, which is relatively rare. But, there is also very much of interest in his comments on other authors such as John Milton.
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