The State of Nature and the Shaping of Modernity

Tracing the Roots of Colonialism, Secularity, and Ecology

Inbunden, Engelska, 2025

1 499 kr

Beställningsvara. Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar. Fri frakt över 249 kr.

Beskrivning

The state of nature is a powerful idea at the heart of the fragmented and sometimes conflicting stories the modern West tells about itself. It also makes sense of foundational Western commitments to equality and accumulation, freedom and property, universality and the individual. By exploring the social and cultural imaginaries that emerge from the distinct and often contradictory accounts of the state of nature in the writing of Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, The State of Nature and the Shaping of Modernity offers a fresh perspective on some of the most pressing debates of our time, showing how the state of nature idea provides a powerful lens through which to focus the complex forces shaping today's political and cultural landscape. It also explores how ideas about human nature and origins drive today's debates about colonialism, secularism, and the environment, and how they can shed new light on some of society's most heated debates.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2025-12-18
Mått:157 x 235 x 27 mm
Vikt:656 g
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Antal sidor:378
Förlag:Cambridge University Press
ISBN:9781009670463

Utforska kategorier

Mer om författaren

Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, Christopher Watkin is the author of French Philosophy Today (2016), Michel Serres: Figures of Thought (2020) and the multi-award winning Biblical Critical Theory (2022). He convenes the Social Contract Research Network, and edits the 'Crosscurrents' series with Edinburgh University Press.

Recensioner i media

'This is the most meticulous, comprehensive, imaginative and accessible treatment of the state of nature that I have come across. Professor Watkin provides a reliable and generative guide to the past, present, and future potential of a topic that is central to social theory, intellectual history, and constitutional and international law.' Mark Somos, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law and author of American States of Nature: The Origins of Independence, 1761-1775 (OUP, 2019)

Innehållsförteckning

Introduction: the state of nature we're in; Part I. Making Sense of the State of Nature: 1. What is the state of nature?; 2. The imaginary worlds of the state of nature; 3. The theoretical figures of the state of nature; Part II. Making Sense Through the State of Nature: 4. Colonial imaginaries of the state of nature; 5. Secular imaginaries of the state of nature; 6. Ecological imaginaries of the state of nature; Conclusion: Making sense; Bibliography.

Häftad

578 kr