scholarly journals Savarkar before Hindutva: Sovereignty, Republicanism, and Populism in India, c.1900–1920

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Vikram Visana
Keyword(s):  
Popular Sovereignty ◽  
The Political ◽  
Western India ◽  
State Assessments ◽  
General Will ◽  
War Of Independence ◽  
History Of ◽  
Intellectual Context ◽  
Indian War ◽  
Indian Mutiny

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was the theorizer of Hindutva (1923)—the project to radically reconfigure India as a Hindu majoritarian state. Assessments of Savarkar's earlier The Indian War of Independence (1909), a history of the 1857 Indian “Mutiny,” have generally subsumed this tract into the logic of Hindutva. This article offers a reassessment of The Indian War of Independence and situates it within the political and intellectual context of fin de siècle western India. I suggest that this history of Indian rebellion propagated a novel iteration of Indian popular sovereignty predicated on Hindu–Muslim unity. I read Savarkar as adapting the ideas of Giuseppe Mazzini and Johann Kaspar Bluntschli to challenge what he regarded as the fissiparous logic of late colonial liberalism. Finally, this article argues that Savarkar's account of the mutual constitution of general will and the personalism of sovereignty must be read as a previously unacknowledged instance of Indian populism.

The Ideal Character of the General Will and Popular Sovereignty in Kant

Kant-Studien ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 109 (4) ◽  
pp. 557-580 ◽  
Author(s):  
Macarena Marey
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Popular Sovereignty ◽  
The Political ◽  
General Will ◽  
States Of Affairs ◽  
Political Will ◽  
The Face ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Ideal

Abstract In this paper, I examine Kant’s reception of and solution to the problem of the unity of the political will. I propose that Kant distances himself from the modern paradigmatic foundations of sovereignty principally with his theses of the ideality of the general will (section II) and of the apriority of the justification of popular sovereignty (section III). My interpretative hypothesis is that Kant solves the problem by grounding sovereignty in a conceptual element which is new in the history of political philosophy, i. e. the a priori unified omnilateral will. In section IV, I explain why my reading of the ideality of the general will can respond to seemingly plausible objections arising from Kant’s own texts and how it works in the face of concrete political states of affairs.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-147
Author(s):  
Stephen Menn ◽  
Justin E. H. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Medical Philosophy ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
History Of ◽  
Intellectual Context ◽  
Academic Dissertations

The life of Anton Wilhelm Amo is summarized, with close attention to the archival documents that establish key moments in his biography. Next the history of Amo’s reception is considered, from the first summaries of his work in German periodicals during his lifetime, through his legacy in African nationalist thought in the twentieth century. Then the political and intellectual context at Halle is addressed, considering the likely influence on Amo’s work of Halle Pietism, of the local currents of medical philosophy as represented by Friedrich Hoffmann, and of legal thought as represented by Christian Thomasius. The legacy of major early modern philosophers, such as René Descartes and G. W. Leibniz, is also considered, in the aim of understanding how Amo himself might have understood them and how they might have shaped his work. Next a detailed analysis of the conventions of academic dissertations and disputations in early eighteenth-century Germany is provided, in order to better understand how these conventions give shape to Amo’s published works. Finally, ancient and modern debates on action and passion and on sensation are investigated, providing key context for the summary of the principal arguments of Amo’s two treatises, which are summarized in the final section of the introduction.

Harrington’s Republicanism

2019 ◽  
pp. 67-80
Author(s):  
Rachel Hammersley
Keyword(s):  
Public Good ◽  
Thomas Hobbes ◽  
The Political ◽  
Publishing History ◽  
The Public ◽  
History Of ◽  
Intellectual Context ◽  
Commonwealth Government ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Agrarian Law

Chapter 4 focuses on the nature of Harrington’s republicanism and the key features of his ‘equal commonwealth’. It begins by examining the complex publishing history of Oceana and the political and intellectual context in which that work was written. It then traces Harrington’s commitment to key features of commonwealth government: his use of republican models ancient and modern, his adoption of the neo-Roman understanding of liberty and his conflict with Thomas Hobbes on this issue, and his commitment to government in accordance with reason and the public good. Harrington’s understanding of, and emphasis on, the concepts of empire and authority are then explored. Finally, the central features of his equal commonwealth are set out: the agrarian law to ensure equality at the foundation, and then a bicameral legislature, rotation of office, and the Venetian ballot to secure equality and prevent corruption in the superstructure.

scholarly journals Confucian Democracy and a Pluralistic Li-Ki Metaphysics

Religions ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 325
Author(s):  
Hyo-Dong Lee
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Public Culture ◽  
Popular Sovereignty ◽  
General Will ◽  
South Korean ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ethical Monism ◽  
Diverse Groups ◽  
Landmark Study

This essay explores the possible constructive role of a Confucian metaphysics in the pluralistic Confucian-democratic context of South Korea. In his recent landmark study, Sungmoon Kim has argued that South Korean democracy is sustained by a public culture of civility that is grounded in Confucian habits and mores and yet is pluralistic in ethos. I appreciatively interrogate Kim’s thesis in order to advance a claim that a comprehensive Confucian doctrine such as Confucian metaphysics can contribute significantly to the flourishing of Confucian democratic public culture, provided that it affirm a pluralistic ontology. I contend that the tradition of Korean Neo-Confucian li-ki metaphysics, particularly one found in the works of Nongmun Im Seong-ju, offers rich resources for a pluralistic ontology despite its history of ethical monism. By putting Nongmun’s thought in conversation with some of the contemporary critiques of the Schmittian (mis-)appropriation of the notion of popular sovereignty, I outline a pluralized version of the Rousseauian general will—a kind of critically affectionate solidarity of diverse groups of people—that is Confucian in character. My claim is that such a critically affectionate solidarity finds its grounds in and draws its nourishment from a pluralistic Confucian ontology.

Reason of State(s) and Reasons of Church

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefania Tutino
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Moral Theology ◽  
The Political ◽  
Early Modern Europe ◽  
Natural Philosopher ◽  
Political Rivalry ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
History Of ◽  
Intellectual Context

This chapter uses the case of the French Jesuit natural philosopher and moral theologian Honoré Fabri as a lens through which we can analyze the polemical, political, ecclesiological, and theological battles between Jesuits and Jansenists that exploded in the second half of the seventeenth century, especially after the publication of Pascal’s Provincial Letters. This chapter shows that the debates on moral theology must be seen within a wider intellectual context, including the recent developments in the realm of natural philosophy, and were inextricably linked to the political history of early modern Europe, and especially to the political rivalry between France and Spain.

scholarly journals Historiografía y participación política de masas: la "decadencia" de la democracia ateniense en el siglo IV a.C. = Historiography and the political participation of the masses: the "decay" of the Athenian democracy in fourth-century BC

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 263
Author(s):  
Diego Paiaro ◽  
Mariano Requena
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
Popular Sovereignty ◽  
Political Incorporation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Factor ◽  
Athenian Democracy ◽  
Ancient Athens ◽  
History Of ◽  
Popular Classes ◽  
The Masses

Resumen: Las características de la democracia y, especialmente, las implicancias de la participación política plena de los «pobres» han sido objeto de una profunda atención por parte del pensamiento político e histórico moderno con respecto a la historia de Atenas. Principalmente preocupados por las consecuencias asociadas al desarrollo de la soberanía popular y por la influencia progresiva de las clases populares como fuerza política, la tradición historiográfica y la filosofía política moderna tendieron a vincular a la incorporación política de las masas con la “crisis” y el “declive” de Atenas. En el presente trabajo se analiza críticamente dicha tradición interpretativa desde nuestra situación contemporánea.Palabras clave: Atenas Antigua, Democracia, Crisis, Historiografía.Abstract: The features of the Athenian democracy and particularly the implications of the full political incorporation of the «poor» have been subjected to the full attention of several modern intellectuals interested in the history of Athens. Mainly concerned with the consequences related to the development of the popular sovereignty and by the growing influence of the popular classes as a relevant political factor, modern political philosophy and traditional historiography have tended to relate the political incorporation of the masses with the Athenian “crisis” and its “decline”. In this paper, this interpretative tradition is critically analysed from our contemporary context.Key words: Ancient Athens, Democracy, Crisis, Historiography.

scholarly journals Florence 1438: The Encomium of the Florentina Libertas Sent by Poggio Bracciolini to Duke Filippo Maria Visconti

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Ann Mullaney ◽  
Massimo Zaggia
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
The Political ◽  
Civic Humanism ◽  
Critical Editions ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
History Of ◽  
Intellectual Context ◽  
The One ◽  
Cultural Competition

This article presents the critical editions of two texts: a letter by the Duke of Milan Filippo Maria Visconti (but written on his behalf by Pier Candido Decembrio) sent to Poggio Bracciolini on 28 July 1438; and the response written by Poggio on 15 September. Poggio’s letter contains a brief treatise in praise of Florence and of the Florentina libertas. The documents illuminate a crucial episode in the history of Italian Humanism. The article opens with the discussion of these two letters in their wider historical and intellectual context: on the one hand, the characteristically Florentine «civic humanism» which constitutes the background of Poggio’s positions; on the other, the political and cultural competition between Florence and Milan during the first half of the 15th century.

America as History

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Körner
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
American Revolution ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
The United States ◽  
Popular Sovereignty ◽  
Declaration Of Independence ◽  
War Of Independence ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
History Of

This chapter examines early Italian writings on the history of the American War of Independence, including Carlo Botta's History of the War of Independence of the United States of America (1809), Carlo Giuseppe Londonio's three-volume Storia delle colonie inglesi (1812–1813), and Giuseppe Compagnoni's twenty-nine-volume Storia dell'America (1829). The chapter compares the context in which these works were created to the changing responses they generated during the later course of the Risorgimento. It also draws on these writings to discuss historiography as political thought, arguing that most Italian historians writing about the American Revolution presented the United States as a political reality far removed from European experiences. Even 500 years after the American Declaration of Independence, Italian references to the United States did not necessarily mean an open endorsement of popular sovereignty.

Kelsen's Theory of Law

1937 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Janzen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Popular Sovereignty ◽  
The Political ◽  
General Will ◽  
Hans Kelsen ◽  
Last Stage ◽  
Theory Of Law

Professor Hans Kelsen is the leading exponent of the “pure” theory of law, which is attracting a great deal of attention abroad but as yet has received scant notice in the United States. His theory marks the culmination of the tendency toward a strictly legal theory, represented in the writings of K. F. von Gerber, Paul Laband, and Georg Jellinek. This movement aims to eliminate all purely metaphysical postulates—such as the natural law concepts—from legal theory, as well as to free it from the political tint which it so often manifests. It also endeavors to separate the validity of law from dependence on any personal authority.This attempt to “depersonalize” law is the last stage of a development that began with the passing of absolutism. At that time, ideas of a “general will” and of popular sovereignty—attended by a demand for “a government of laws and not of men” and by the introduction of the principle of separation of powers—made their appearance, only to be supplanted, more recently, by the concept of the Rechtsstaat.

The Social Origins and Provenance of the English Bishops during the Reign of Edward II

1959 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 51-79
Author(s):  
K. Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Social Background ◽  
Early Career ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Origins ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Edward Ii ◽  
The Social ◽  
Complete Study ◽  
History Of

During the last twenty or twenty-five years medieval historians have been much interested in the composition of the English episcopate. A number of studies of it have been published on periods ranging from the eleventh to the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. A further paper might well seem superfluous. My reason for offering one is that most previous writers have concentrated on analysing the professional circles from which the bishops were drawn, and suggesting the influences which their early careers as royal clerks, university masters and students, secular or regular clergy, may have had on their later work as bishops. They have shown comparatively little interest in their social background and provenance, except for those bishops who belonged to magnate families. Some years ago, when working on the political activities of Edward II's bishops, it seemed to me that social origins, family connexions and provenance might in a number of cases have had at least as much influence on a bishop's attitude to politics as his early career. I there fore collected information about the origins and provenance of these bishops. I now think that a rather more careful and complete study of this subject might throw further light not only on the political history of the reign, but on other problems connected with the character and work of the English episcopate. There is a general impression that in England in the later middle ages the bishops' ties with their dioceses were becoming less close, and that they were normally spending less time in diocesan work than their predecessors in the thirteenth century.

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