Defining the common good: empire, religion, and philosophy in eighteenth-century Britain

The theme of this book is the crisis of the early modern state in eighteenth-century Britain. The revolt of the North American colonies and the simultaneous demand for wider religious toleration at home challenged the principles of sovereignty and obligation that underpinned arguments about the char...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Miller, Peter N. 1964- (Author)
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1994
Series:Ideas in context 29
Subjects:
Links:https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511558566
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511558566
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511558566
Summary:The theme of this book is the crisis of the early modern state in eighteenth-century Britain. The revolt of the North American colonies and the simultaneous demand for wider religious toleration at home challenged the principles of sovereignty and obligation that underpinned arguments about the character of the state. These were expressed in terms of the 'common good', 'necessity', and 'community' - concepts that came to the fore in early modern European political thought and which gave expression to the problem of defining legitimate authority in a period of increasing consciousness of state power. The Americans and their British supporters argued that individuals ought to determine the common good of the community. A new theory of representation and freedom of thought defines the cutting edge of this revolutionary redefinition of the basic relationship between individual and community
Item Description:Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015)
Physical Description:1 online resource (xii, 472 pages)
ISBN:9780511558566
DOI:10.1017/CBO9780511558566

Order via interlibrary loan Read online (BSB)

Library Card of Bavarian State Library (BSB) necessary.