History Of Political Thought (Political Science)

Le philhellénisme d’inspiration conservatrice en Europe et en Russie (Conservative Philhellenism in Europe and in Russia)

by Stella Ghervas

published in "Peuples, Etats et nations dans le Sud-Est de l’Europe", Bucharest, Ed. Anima, 2004, pp. 98-110.

S’il est un point sur lequel les chercheurs sont généralement d’accord, c’est que le philhellénisme, qui prit dans les... more S’il est un point sur lequel les chercheurs sont généralement d’accord, c’est que le philhellénisme, qui prit dans les années 1820 la forme d’un vaste courant de sympathie à la cause de libération grecque, fut l’une des premières manifestations de l’opinion publique à une échelle véritablement européenne. Ce n’est que tout récemment que des questions ont surgi quant à l’ampleur réelle du phénomène et quant à son impact effectif sur le cours des événements politico-militaires. L’existence, longtemps méconnue en Occident, d’un philhellénisme oriental à la fois russe et balkanique, vient compliquer l’image d’un mouvement beaucoup plus complexe et moins unilatéral qu’on ne l’a longtemps cru, où se mêlent aspects culturels et politiques, préoccupations humanitaires et visées économiques.

L’insurrection grecque de 1821 suscita naturellement l’enthousiasme des milieux libéraux européens, encore opprimés par la politique réactionnaire de la Sainte-Alliance. Ce lien entre le philhellénisme et le libéralisme fut accrédité presque unanimement par l’historiographie européenne, et cela jusqu’à nos jours. A l’encontre de cet avis largement répandu, notre contribution vise à montrer qu’il a existé également un philhellénisme conservateur qui s’est manifesté dans des cercles légitimistes occidentaux, russes ou balkaniques de l’époque. Des penseurs comme Alexandre Stourdza, bras droit du comte Capodistrias, ont tenté de concilier leurs sympathies philhellènes avec des positions favorables à la Sainte-Alliance.

Basée sur de multiples documents inédits tirés des archives russes et ukrainiennes, cette analyse interprète le philhellénisme dans le contexte de l’Europe de la Restauration. Elle s’attache également à en faire ressortir les composantes politiques, diplomatiques et religieuses.


Bibliographie sélective :

- Stella GHERVAS, "Alexandre Stourdza (1791-1854). Un intellectuel orthodoxe face à l’Occident", Genève, Ed. Suzanne Hurter, 1999.

- Stella GHERVAS, «Alexandru Sturza ou la quête de l’espace orthodoxe», "Bulletin de l’Association internationale d’études du sud-est européen", n° 31, 2001, pp. 53-60.

- Stella GHERVAS, «Alexandre Stourdza sur la scène européenne: autopsie d'un échec», "Revue Roumaine d'Histoire", t. XXXIX, n° 1-4, 2000, pp. 107-148.

Fair Play: Resolving the Crito-Apology Problem

by Jonathan Hecht

History of Political Thought 32 (4), 2011

Feel free to email me with any questions or comments.

I present arguments against previous readings of the Crito then give an interpretation of the dialogue characterized... more I present arguments against previous readings of the Crito then give an interpretation of the dialogue characterized in terms of fair play. This resolves seeming inconsistencies with the Apology.

A Bridge to Nowhere: Connecting Representative and Radical Models of Democracy

by Mark Kaswan

This article will appear in the International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior, vol. 14 no 4 (Winter, 2011), as part of "Governance, Social Science, and Democracy: A Symposium on Mark Bevir's /Democratic Governance/".

“Democracy” can be defined in different ways, each of which offers a different way of looking at the relationship... more “Democracy” can be defined in different ways, each of which offers a different way of looking at the relationship between democracy and governance. Mark Bevir’s (2010) Democratic Governance offers a genealogical account of the development of this relationship from the late 19th century, focusing on the role of particular theories of social science, and raising serious questions about the degree to which contemporary practices conflict with democratic ideals. Bevir suggests a more radical, participatory approach as a way of resolving this conflict. Here I extend his genealogical account to include two thinkers, Jeremy Bentham and William Thompson, who laid much of the groundwork for modern social science, but with very different ideas about democracy. Extending the genealogy to Bentham and Thompson opens the way for a consideration of some aspects of the relationship between democracy and governance not included in Bevir’s account, and raises questions as to whether the different models of democracy can be integrated in the way he suggests.

´Sobre la guerra justa

by Pedro Lopez Barja de Quiroga

Sémata 23 (2011) 61-75

The “just war” is a historically determined doctrine. It depends entirely upon the notion of political
community... more The “just war” is a historically determined doctrine. It depends entirely upon the notion of political
community prevailing in any given time. For this reason, its contents change. When the political
community is defined as a State, the arguments used to describe a war as “just” are different from
the ones used when the polis, not the State, was the reference.

Labour-power

by Peter D. Thomas

Peter Thomas, “Labour-power (Arbeitskraft)”, Krisis. Journal for Contemporary Philosophy, 2/2010.

Democratic Governance - A Genealogy

by Mark Bevir

Local Government Studies 37 (2011), 3-17

This essay draws on my book, Democratic Governance (Princeton University Press, 2010), to provide a genealogy of... more This essay draws on my book, Democratic Governance (Princeton University Press, 2010), to provide a genealogy of governance and to explore its implications for democracy. My arguments can be quickly stated: governance rose and spread as a consequence of new modernist theories and the public sector reforms that were inspired by these theories; policy actors respond to the challenges of governance by supplementing representative institutions with yet more modernist expertise.

Montesquieu On Nature and Law: A Preface to the Understanding of "De l’Esprit des lois"

by Murray S. Y. Bessette

While the title of Montesquieu’s greatest oeuvre, "The Spirit of the Laws," identifies the subject of the... more While the title of Montesquieu’s greatest oeuvre, "The Spirit of the Laws," identifies the subject of the work, it nevertheless remains obscure. Many presume to know what law is. The title, however, will prompt most readers to ask: What is the spirit of the laws? Insofar as the title implies the existence of a relation between spirit and law, it also implies that knowledge of what both spirit and law are is a necessary precursor to understanding it. Montesquieu’s choice of title, then, should lead any reader who ponders it to raise three philosophic questions: What is law? What is spirit? And, what is their relation? The reader sensitive to the distinction in which philosophy is said to originate – that between nature and law – sees the question of nature lurking in the others. That nature is a foremost concern of the work is hinted at by Montesquieu’s use of the word and its derivatives in the book and chapter headings. Thus, to the three questions above is added a fourth: What is nature? This paper is an attempt to sketch Montesquieu’s answers to these four questions as he presents them in both the preface and the first book of "The Spirit of the Laws."

Aristotle's Definition of Eudaimonia

by Eric Gallager

The second paper for my History of Western Political Thought class I took with professor Justin Litke the first semester of my sophomore year.

In this paper, I describe Aristotle's concept of eudaimonia, explain how it fits into his political theory, and argue... more In this paper, I describe Aristotle's concept of eudaimonia, explain how it fits into his political theory, and argue that finding fallacies in it, while possible, is not helpful.

Callicles' Mistake

by Eric Gallager

My first paper in the History of Western Political Thought class I took with professor Justin Litke the first semester of my sophomore year.

In this paper I show the mistake in Callicles' arguments in Plato's Gorgias, and suggest how this mistake could have... more In this paper I show the mistake in Callicles' arguments in Plato's Gorgias, and suggest how this mistake could have been avoided.

Custom, Case Law, and Medieval" Constitutionalism": A Re-Examination

by Fredric Cheyette

Available on JStore

C.L.R.James as a Creole Nationalist: Reconsidering The Case for West Indian Self Government

by F.S.J. Ledgister

Eric Williams: The Hero As Politician

by F.S.J. Ledgister

Eric Williams, successively Chief Minister, Premier, and Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 1956 to 1981, was... more Eric Williams, successively Chief Minister, Premier, and Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 1956 to 1981, was an exemplary scholar-statesman who developed a justificatory theory of liberal democratic decolonisation for the British West Indies in general and Trinidad and Tobago in particular. Williams sought to combine the roles of political leader and political educator both in the run-up to independence and thereafter. Williams’s assertion of Creole Nationalism in the face of critiques from both the left and right is examined, and his efforts to put theory into practice are evaluated. In the end, while he was able to establish a liberal democracy he was not able to convince the Trinidadian people of their identity as citizens of a Creole Nation.

The Politics of Hospitality In JM Coetzee's Disgrace

by Naor Cohen

Presented at WPSA conference, 2010; Currently under revision for publication

Arguing in favor of the use of novels as a critical tool in scrutinizing current political discourses, this paper uses... more Arguing in favor of the use of novels as a critical tool in scrutinizing current political discourses, this paper uses J.M Coetzee‘s novel Disgrace  to examine the  theme of hospitality in Derrida's Politics of Hospitality in an attempt to discover what is entailed in a real life situation. Derrida‘s notion of hospitality broadly speaks to the tension and interdependency that exist between hosts and guests. The question raised here is: Is their relationship really one of victims and predators? An answer can be found in Disgrace. Coetzee – who was awarded the Nobel Prize - presents a vivid portrait of post-apartheid South Africa that offers a contradictory perspective on Nelson Mandela‘s vision of democracy in South Africa. Bluntly put, that the breakup of apartheid has yet to offer a moral anchor to the people of South Africa; and that the inherent violence of colonialism which found its way into liberal humanism, can neither be resolved nor dissolved merely by expressions of regret and forgiveness.

Happiness, Politics and the Co-operative Principles

by Mark Kaswan

Published in the Journal of Co-operative Studies (2007), Manchester, UK: UK Society for Co-operative Studies, 40, 1: 30-40.

How are cooperatives different from traditional capitalist enterprises? Are these differences more than superficial,... more How are cooperatives different from traditional capitalist enterprises? Are these differences more than superficial, and is there any deeper, political significance to them? I argue that what makes cooperatives different is their basis in an ideology that emphasizes social institutions, which stands in stark contrast to the individualism implicit in capitalism. The case for cooperatives on the basis of this ideology was perhaps best articulated in the 1820s by William Thompson, one of the leaders of the cooperative movement. Thompson’s theory is contrasted with that of Jeremy Bentham, from whom Thompson takes many central concepts—although he takes them in a very different direction. Bentham’s and Thompson’s theories diverge because of their different understandings about what constitutes happiness and “the greatest happiness of the greatest number.” Bentham equates happiness with pleasure, an individualistic concept, while Thompson argues that it happiness is best understood as well-being, which is much more of a social condition. This difference leads the two to very different conclusions about the underlying principles of social institutions. Ultimately, it is shown how Thompson’s theory can be understood as providing an ideological foundation for the cooperatives as defined by the International Cooperative Alliance, which raises some questions and poses some challenges for cooperatives today.

Happiness and Democratic Theory: Jeremy Bentham and William Thompson

by Mark Kaswan

Happiness, Well-Being, and William Thompson's Social(ist) Utilitarianism

by Mark Kaswan

Prepared for ISUS X: The 10th Conference of the International Society for Utilitarian Studies, 11–14 September 2008, University of California, Berkeley

William Thompson (1775-1833), best known as author of "An Inquiry into the Principles for the Distribution of... more William Thompson (1775-1833), best known as author of "An Inquiry into the Principles for the Distribution of Wealth Most Conducive to Human Happiness" and described by Bentham as a “disciple” at one point, is not much studied by utilitarian scholars. He is of interest in utilitarian studies, however, because he took Bentham’s basic premises—the greatest happiness of the greatest number as well as the subsidiary principles of security, subsistence, abundance and equality—in very different direction. What Thompson’s work demonstrates is the flexibility of the principle of utility, and the range of possibilities for utilitarian theory: Where Bentham is seen as one of the great contributors to liberal capitalist theory, Thompson is considered one of the founders of socialism. A reading of Thompson provides a new perspective on the politics of utilitarianism, bringing in ‘the social’ and recognizing the important role social institutions play in shaping the conditions within which we seek our happiness. Thompson’s significance stands out best in contrast to Bentham, so the paper examines elements of Bentham’s theory—the role of well-being in his thought, its relationship to his hedonism, and the importance of the concepts of security and wealth—that are not often examined.