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99Conceptual History and the Philosophy of the Later Wittgenstein: A Critique of Quentin Skinner’s ContextualismJournal of the Philosophy of History 5 (1): 54-83. 2011.Although first published in 1969, the methodological views advanced in Quentin Skinner's “Meaning and Understanding in the History of Ideas” remain relevant today. In his article Skinner suggests that it would be inappropriate to even attempt to write the history of any idea or concept. In support of this view, Skinner advances two arguments, one derived from the philosophy of the later Wittgenstein and the other from that of J. L. Austin. In this paper I focus on the first of these arguments. I…Read more
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74Aristotle and natural lawHistory of Political Thought 19 (2): 142-166. 1998.The paper presents an interpretation of Aristotle's views on natural justice in the Nicomachean Ethics. It focuses, in particular, on Aristotle's understanding of the relationship which exists between natural justice and political justice, or between natural law and positive law. It is suggested that Aristotle's views on this subject are often misunderstood. It is also suggested that, contrary to what some commentators might think, Aristotle's comments on natural justice are actually central for…Read more
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73The purloined Hegel: semiology in the thought of Saussure and DerridaHistory of the Human Sciences 13 (4): 1-24. 2000.This paper explores the thought of Hegel, Saussure and Derrida regarding the nature of the linguistic sign. It argues that Derrida is right to maintain that Hegel is an influence on Saussure. However, Derrida misrepresents both Hegel and Saussure by interpreting them as falling within the Platonic rather than the Aristotelian philosophical tradition
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64Materialism in Ancient Greek Philosophy and in the Writings of the Young MarxHistorical Materialism 7 (1): 3-39. 2000.What is the young Marx's attitude towards questions of psychology? More precisely, what is his attitude towards the human mind and its relationship to the body? To deal adequately with this issue requires a consideration of the relationship between Marx and Feuerbach. It also requires some discussion of the thought of Aristotle. For the views of Feuerbach and the young Marx are not at all original. Rather, they represent a continuation of a long tradition which derives ultimately from ancient Gr…Read more
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52Marx and the Concept of a Social FormationHistorical Materialism. forthcoming.This paper discusses the significance of the concept of a social formation for historical materialism. It argues that the concept is wrongly thought to be associated uniquely with the writings of Louis Althusser and with structuralist Marxism. It can be found in the writings of Marx himself, as well as those of Lenin, and is central to an adequate understanding of classical Marxism. To illustrate its importance the paper shows how the concept may be used to shed new light on the debate around th…Read more
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50Interpreting and appropriating texts in the history of political thought: Quentin Skinner and poststructuralismContemporary Political Theory 10 (3): 313-331. 2011.
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38Joseph Dietzgen and the History of MarxismScience and Society 66 (2): 202-27. 2002.Joseph Dietzgen (1828-1888) had an important role in the history of Marxism. One reason for this is that he coined the phrase "dialectical materialism" — the hallmark of "orthodox" Marxism. Another reason is that at the beginning of the 20th century, in the absence of Marx's early writings, humanist critics of "orthodox" Marxism like Anton Pannekoek appealed to Dietzgen. An understanding of Dietzgen's thought sheds new light on our understanding of "dialectical materialism" and on the debate bet…Read more
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35The tragedy of slavery: Aristotle's rhetoric and the history of the concept of natural lawHistory of Political Thought 24 (1): 16-36. 2003.This article focuses on the history of the concept of natural law and the role which Aristotle, and especially his Rhetoric, has to play within it. It is sometimes suggested that the origins of the concept of law are to be located in the writings of Plato and Aristotle in the fourth century BCE. The article argues that there is evidence both in Aristotle's Politics and in his Rhetoric to support the view that this is not the case. In these texts Aristotle suggests that the origins of the concept…Read more
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34Conceptual History and the Philosophy of the Later Wittgenstein: A Critique of Quentin Skinner’s Contextualist MethodJournal of the Philosophy of History 5 (1): 54-83. 2011.Although first published in 1969, the methodological views advanced in Quentin Skinner's “Meaning and Understanding in the History of Ideas” remain relevant today. In his article Skinner suggests that it would be inappropriate to even attempt to write the history of any idea or concept. In support of this view, Skinner advances two arguments, one derived from the philosophy of the later Wittgenstein and the other from that of J. L. Austin.In this paper I focus on the first of these arguments. I …Read more
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33Alan Brudner and the Contemporary Significance of Hegel's Philosophy of Law (review)Jurisprudence 3 (1): 211-251. 2012.
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28Augustine on Administration: The Politics of Social Institutions in The City of GodThe European Legacy 26 (1): 22-38. 2021.This article considers what St. Augustine has to say about administration in The City of God, as well as in The Rule of St. Augustine and in Of the Work of Monks. Rather than focusin...
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25Political Theory, Science Fiction and Utopian Literature: Ursula K. Le Guin and The DispossessedRowman & Littlefield. 2008.This work challenges both the widely accepted view thatThe Dispossessed represents a new kind of literary utopia and the place of Ursula K. Le Guin's novel in the histories of utopian/dystopian literature and science fiction.
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25Hegel Panel: Political Studies Association Annual Conference 10-12 April 1996Hegel Bulletin 17 (2): 83-87. 1996.
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19Stephen C Bosworth, Hegel's Political Philosophy: The Test Case of Constitutional Monarchy, New York and London: Garland, 1991, Hb $72.00 (review)Hegel Bulletin 15 (2): 64-71. 1994.
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19Aristotle and Natural LawContinuum. 2011.Aristotle and Natural Law lays out a new theoretical approach which distinguishes between the notions of 'interpretation,' 'appropriation,' 'negotiation' and 'reconstruction' of the meaning of texts and their component concepts. These categories are then deployed in an examination of the role which the concept of natural law is used by Aristotle in a number of key texts. The book argues that Aristotle appropriated the concept of natural law, first formulated by the defenders of naturalism in the…Read more
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17Social Institutions and the Politics of Recognition: From the Reformation to the French RevolutionRowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2020.This second volume continues the story told in the first by focusing on the writings of a selection of seminal thinkers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in England, the German speaking world and in France, ending with the debate around the French Revolution of 1789.
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17The Hegel-Marx connection (edited book)St. Martin's Press. 2000.A major and timely re-examination of key areas in the social and political thought of Hegel and Marx. The editors' extensive introduction surveys the development of the connection from the Young Hegelians through the main Marxist thinkers to contemporary debates. Leading scholars including Terrell Carver, Chris Arthur, and Gary Browning debate themes such as: the nature of the connection itself scientific method political economy the Hegelian basis to Marxs' "Doctoral Dissertation" human needs h…Read more
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11This book has two themes. The first is Hegel's attitude towards natural law. The second is Hegel's relationship to the different political ideologies.
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118 chapters are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
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8Social Institutions and the Politics of Recognition: From the Reformation to the French RevolutionRowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2020.This second volume continues the story told in the first by focusing on the writings of a selection of seminal thinkers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in England, the German speaking world and in France, ending with the debate around the French Revolution of 1789.
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6“The Right to Have Rights”: Slavery, Freedom and Citizenship in the Thought of Aristotle, Hegel and ArendtCulture and Civilization 5. 2013.
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5The Legacy of Leo Strauss (edited book)Imprint Academic. 2010.Leo Strauss was a political philosopher who died in 1973 but came to prominent attention around the beginning of the war in Iraq. Charges began emerging that architects of the war had studied with, or been influenced by, Strauss' works. This volume explores these works.
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3MacIntyre and Hegel on the possibility of resolving philosophical disagreementsPhilosophy and Social Criticism. forthcoming.This article examines the views of Hegel and Alasdair MacIntyre regarding philosophical disagreements, whether or not they can be resolved and if so how. For both thinkers such a disagreement is thought of as taking place between the advocates of two theoretical positions which are opposed to one another. Each party subscribes to a way of thinking about the issue under discussion which appears to be logically incompatible with the views of the other. We seem therefore to have to make an either-o…Read more
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2Marxism Versus Postmodernism: The Case of The MatrixIn Ewa Mazierska & Alfredo Suppia (eds.), Red Alert: Marxist Approaches to Science Fiction Cinema, Wayne State University Press. pp. 104-31. 2016.
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2“Happy Slaves”?: The Adaptation Problem and Identity Politics in the Writings of Amartya SenInternational Journal of Social Economics 43 (12). 2016.
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2Marxism Versus Postmodernism: The Case of The MatrixIn Ewa Mazierska & Alfredo Suppia (eds.), Red Alert: Marxist Approaches to Science Fiction Cinema, Wayne State University Press. pp. 104-31. 2016.
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2Whose Aristotle? Which Marx? Ethics, Law and Justice in Aristotle and MarxImprints: Egalitarian Theory and Practice 8 (2). 2005.