For episode 22, see here
The Theory of the Nation State
XXIII. The Republicans: Harrington, Milton and Sidney
A. Republican issues played no major part in the Puritan Revolution.
B. James Harrington - Utopian The Commonwealth of Oceana 1656
1. Saw government determined in both structure and practice by
underlying social and economic forces.
2. That class that controls property commands government.
3. Saw Hobbesian power as resting on social force that presumes
control of means of subsistence.
4. Revolution result of control of land shifting to middle class.
5. Classified governments on basis of typical forms of
land tenure.
6. Not economic materialist because it remains possible to
radically change the distribution pf property through law.
7. Politics rests on two principles:
i. force, depending on distribution of property and;
ii. "authority," depending on the good of the mind.
iii. government of "authority could alter property relations
and relied on statecraft and a commonwealth of law
8. Commonwealth
i. agrarian law (political rights based on land)
ii. rotation in office
iii. separation of powers
9. Was republican but not a democrat
C. John Milton - Areopagitica (1644) defended freedom of speech
1. Like J.S. Mill after him, stated liberal creed that truth will prevail
over error when both are freely tested by investigation and
discussion.
2. Argued that resistance to a tyrant is natural right.
3. Called for separation of church and state as they are distinct
communities.
D. Algernon Sidney and Robert Filmer
1. Filmer's Patriarcha was dusted off 30 years after his death to defend
royalists.
i. argument for hereditary king's authority based on natural
authority of the father
ii. pointed out problems of terms such as "the people" and the
concept of contract
E. Sidney was a republican
i. Refuted Filmer
ii. But backward looking toward aristocratic republicanism
Next week: Halifax and Locke
The Theory of the Nation State
XXIII. The Republicans: Harrington, Milton and Sidney
A. Republican issues played no major part in the Puritan Revolution.
B. James Harrington - Utopian The Commonwealth of Oceana 1656
1. Saw government determined in both structure and practice by
underlying social and economic forces.
2. That class that controls property commands government.
3. Saw Hobbesian power as resting on social force that presumes
control of means of subsistence.
4. Revolution result of control of land shifting to middle class.
5. Classified governments on basis of typical forms of
land tenure.
6. Not economic materialist because it remains possible to
radically change the distribution pf property through law.
7. Politics rests on two principles:
i. force, depending on distribution of property and;
ii. "authority," depending on the good of the mind.
iii. government of "authority could alter property relations
and relied on statecraft and a commonwealth of law
8. Commonwealth
i. agrarian law (political rights based on land)
ii. rotation in office
iii. separation of powers
9. Was republican but not a democrat
C. John Milton - Areopagitica (1644) defended freedom of speech
1. Like J.S. Mill after him, stated liberal creed that truth will prevail
over error when both are freely tested by investigation and
discussion.
2. Argued that resistance to a tyrant is natural right.
3. Called for separation of church and state as they are distinct
communities.
D. Algernon Sidney and Robert Filmer
1. Filmer's Patriarcha was dusted off 30 years after his death to defend
royalists.
i. argument for hereditary king's authority based on natural
authority of the father
ii. pointed out problems of terms such as "the people" and the
concept of contract
E. Sidney was a republican
i. Refuted Filmer
ii. But backward looking toward aristocratic republicanism
Next week: Halifax and Locke
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