Politics and the Passions, 1500-1850

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Politics and the Passions, 1500-1850

Edited by: Victoria Kahn , Neil Saccamano and Daniela Coli

Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2009

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About this book

Focusing on the new theories of human motivation that emerged during the transition from feudalism to the modern period, this is the first book of new essays on the relationship between politics and the passions from Machiavelli to Bentham. Contributors address the crisis of moral and philosophical discourse in the early modern period; the necessity of inventing a new way of describing the relation between reflection and action, and private and public selves; the disciplinary regulation of the body; and the ideological constitution of identity. The collection as a whole asks whether a discourse of the passions might provide a critical perspective on the politics of subjectivity. Whatever their specific approach to the question of ideology, all the essays reconsider the legacy of the passions in modern political theory and the importance of the history of politics and the passions for modern political debates.

Contributors, in addition to the editors, are Nancy Armstrong, Judith Butler, Riccardo Caporali, Howard Caygill, Patrick Coleman, Frances Ferguson, John Guillory, Timothy Hampton, John P. McCormick, and Leonard Tennenhouse.

Author / Editor information

Victoria Kahn is Professor of English and Bernie H. Williams Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley. Among her books is Wayward Contracts: The Crisis of Political Obligation in England, 1640-1674 (Princeton). Neil Saccamano is Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Cornell University. Daniela Coli is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Florence, Italy.

Reviews

"I am very favorably impressed by the articles collected here and by the book as a whole. There is a coherence to the book in terms of topic, a coherence enhanced by the fact that there are essays on the most important figures in the period loosely between the Renaissance and the French Revolution. By its detail and range, the book takes the issue of politics and the passions well beyond Hirschman's classic The Passions and the Interests. The selection of authors is first-rate."—Tracy B. Strong, University of California, San Diego

"This is a distinguished collection of essays on a compelling topic by major scholars and theorists. Passion, emotion, and affect have been placed once again on the agenda of the humanities but these topics have been less scrutinized in political matters than elsewhere. This volume—which should appeal almost equally to students and teachers of politics, literature, and philosophy—could hardly arrive at a better time."—Ian Balfour, York University

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Frontmatter
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Contents
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Introduction. Victoria Kahn and Neil Saccamano
1

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Tempering The Grandi’S Appetite To Oppress
7
John P. McCormick

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Difficult Engagements
30
Timothy Hampton

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The Bachelor State
49
John Guillory

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Hobbes’S Revolution
75
Daniela Coli

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Happy Tears
93
Victoria Kahn

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The Desire to Live
111
Judith Butler

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A Mind for Passion
131
Nancy Armstrong and Leonard Tennenhouse

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Rousseau’S Quarrel with Gratitude
151
Patrick Coleman

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Parting with Prejudice
175
Neil Saccamano

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Vico, “Tenderness,” and “Barbarism”
196
Riccardo Caporali

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Kant and the Relegation of the Passions
217
Howard Caygill

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Beliefs and Emotions (from Stanley Fish to Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill)
231
Frances Ferguson

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Contributors
251

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Notes
253

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Index
311

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Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

January 10, 2009

eBook ISBN:

9781400827152

Edition:

Course Book

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400827152

eBook ISBN: 9781400827152

Keywords for this book

Philosophy; Reason; Politics; Morality; Philosopher; Ethics; Thought; Writing; Self-interest; Niccolò Machiavelli; Political philosophy; Critique; Thomas Hobbes; Sovereignty; Rationality; Generosity; Modernity; Pity; Rhetoric; Criticism; Religion; Self-love; Theory; Good and evil; Plebs; Subject (philosophy); Nobility; Subjectivity; Wealth; Sadness; Treatise; State of nature; Disposition; Conscience; Prejudice; Aristocracy; Multitude; Atheism; Individualism; Universality (philosophy); Natural philosophy; The Philosopher; Reality; Superiority (short story); Stupidity; Contingency (philosophy); Concept; Consciousness; Skepticism; Machiavellianism; Gratitude; Suffering; Perversion; Ideology; Analogy; Judith Butler; Obedience (human behavior); Sensibility; Ethos; Stoicism; Epistemology; Critique of Pure Reason; Hatred; Early modern period; Jeremy Bentham; Aristotle; Inference; Comparative literature; Death drive; Scientific method

Audience(s) for this book

For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research

Politics and the Passions, 1500-1850

Overview

About this book

Author / Editor information

Reviews

Topics

Table of contents

Frontmatter

Contents

Introduction. Victoria Kahn and Neil Saccamano

Tempering The Grandi’S Appetite To Oppress

Difficult Engagements

The Bachelor State

Hobbes’S Revolution

Happy Tears

The Desire to Live

A Mind for Passion

Rousseau’S Quarrel with Gratitude

Parting with Prejudice

Vico, “Tenderness,” and “Barbarism”

Kant and the Relegation of the Passions

Beliefs and Emotions (from Stanley Fish to Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill)

Contributors

Notes

Index

Bibliographic data