Description
Book SynopsisFocusing on the theories of human motivation that emerged during the transition from feudalism to the modern period, this book includes essays on the relationship between politics and the passions from Machiavelli to Bentham. It addresses the crisis of moral and philosophical discourse in the early modern period.
Trade Review"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 UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction by VICTORIA KAHN AND NEIL SACCAMANO 1 Tempering the Grandi's Appetite to Oppress: The Dedication by and Intention of Machiavelli's Discourses by JOHN P. MCCORMICK 7 Difficult Engagements: Private Passion and Public Service in by Montaigne's Essais by TIMOTHY HAMPTON 30 The Bachelor State: Philosophy and Sovereignty in Bacon's by New Atlantis by JOHN GUILLORY 49 Hobbes's Revolution by DANIELA COLI 75 Happy Tears: Baroque Politics in Descartes's Passions de l'ame by VICTORIA KAHN 93 The Desire to Live: Spinoza's Ethics under Pressure by JUDITH BUTLER 111 A Mind for Passion: Locke and Hutcheson on Desire by NANCY ARMSTRONG AND LEONARD TENNENHOUSE 131 Rousseau's Quarrel with Gratitude by PATRICK COLEMAN 151 Parting with Prejudice: Hume, Identity, and Aesthetic by Universality by NEIL SACCAMANO 175 Vico, "Tenderness," and "Barbarism" by RICCARDO CAPORALI 196 Kant and the Relegation of the Passions by HOWARD CAYGILL 217 Beliefs and Emotions (from Stanley Fish to Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill) by FRANCES FERGUSON 231 Contributors 251 Notes 253 Index 311
