DOCSLIB.ORG

The University of Chicago Philosophy, Politeness, And

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The University of Chicago Philosophy, Politeness, And THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PHILOSOPHY, POLITENESS, AND PARTY: DAVID HUME AND THE CONSTITUTION OF A MODERN SOCIAL ORDER A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE DIVINITY SCHOOL IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY DAVID PATRICK LYONS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS DECEMBER 2017 Copyright © 2017 by David Patrick Lyons. All rights reserved. To Gretchen, for all the great beauty. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................................. vi ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... x INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER 1: KIRK, COURT, AND MODERATES ............................................................................ 37 THE AMBITIONS AND REVERSALS OF A MAN OF LETTERS ................................................ 41 A SEAT IN THE ENGLISH PARNASSUS ............................................................................... 47 THE PATRONAGE CONTROVERSY IN THE KIRK ................................................................. 58 TRADITIONALISTS, CENSURE, AND THE HISTORY .............................................................. 69 CHAPTER 2: “TO BE DETESTED AND HATED” .............................................................................. 77 THE IRONY OF REVOLUTION ........................................................................................... 93 FEARS OF CONSTITUTIONAL CORRUPTION: THE COUNTRY PARTY AND ITS PROGRAM ..... 107 FACTIONS RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL ........................................................................... 118 CHAPTER 3: THE DISEASE OF THE LEARNED ............................................................................. 133 A LETTER TO AN UNNAMED PHYSICIAN ........................................................................ 137 PHILOSOPHY AND DESPAIR: THE FIRST BOOK OF THE TREATISE ...................................... 144 DESPAIR AND POLITENESS ............................................................................................ 152 CHAPTER 4: THE EMERGENCE AND DEFENSE OF A POLITE AND COMMERCIAL PEOPLE .............. 158 URBANITY AND THE EMERGENCE OF A MIDDLING ORDER .............................................. 166 BOURGEOIS IDEOLOGY: THE CASE OF THE SPECTATOR................................................... 183 COUNTRY WHIGGERY, COURT WHIGGERY, AND ADDISON’S CLAIMS OF NEUTRALITY ... 190 CHAPTER 5: A POLITE HISTORY FOR A POLITE PEOPLE ............................................................. 196 HUME AND THE PROJECT OF COURT WHIGGERY ............................................................ 203 iv HUME: NEUTRAL OR PARTISAN? COURT OR COUNTRY? ................................................. 224 COURT WHIGGERY AND THE DEFENSE OF THE POLITE COMMERCIAL ORDER .................. 244 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................... 260 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................ 271 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS One of the themes of this dissertation is the emergence of the norms of bourgeois politeness. Although I find many of these norms suspect, I readily embrace the obligations of a more fundamental politeness, which requires that I express my appreciation for the immeasurable support, encouragement, advice, and love I have received in the furtherance of this project. Beyond mere politeness, justice, honor, and a reciprocal love demand the same recognition. Paul Mendes-Flohr, the chair of my dissertation committee, has been a model of sagacity, generosity, and nobility throughout my time at Chicago. He brings warmth to the coldest of places, and knowing him has made me a better man. Fredrik Albritton Jonsson and Paul Cheney have been the epitomes of scholarly interlocutors and mentors: meticulous in their reading, penetrating in their observations, and collegial beyond all measure. The great interest they have taken in my work and my development as a scholar and teacher have been among the greatest blessings I have received at Chicago. I could not have asked for better teachers, conversation partners, or friends. In my time at Chicago I have benefitted greatly from the instruction and guidance of Susan Schreiner, Philip Hamburger, Ralph Lerner, Constantin Fasolt, and the late Jean Bethke Elshtain. As thankful as I am to all of the foregoing, Bruce Lincoln, who elevates pedagogy to nearly super-human levels, deserves special mention. Despite our deep ideological differences, he represents the type of scholar and teacher I aspire to be. Speaking from the other side of the desk, my students at Chicago have inspired me to become a better reader, listener, and thinker. I owe my early confidence to think, speak, and live as a scholar to Margaret Walczak, Leora Lindhorst, Frances O’Neal, Stephen Loomis, Fr. John Lindsay, and the late James vi Kwiatkowski. Moreover, I never would have considered the life of an academic had Andy Achenbaum and Mills Thornton not taken me under their respective wings while I was an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. Finally, I must single out for thanks my third-grade teacher, Katherine Jenks, who demanded that I always ask myself how I know what I think I know. Few lessons have been more rewarding and more humbling, and fewer still have been given with such love. My thanks to the participants in the Early Modern History Workshop for years of illuminating conversation, in particular Ted Cook, Jonathan Lyon, Bill Monter, Corey Tazarra, Colin Wilder, Kirsty Montgomery, Carolyn Purnell, and Ollie Cussen. I have also benefitted from countless random conversations at the gym and on the street with David Waldman. Colleen Mullarkey’s grace, kindness, and care allowed me to move this manuscript through its final stages in something like a calm, dignified, and professional manner. In those moments when my own will would fail, many friends at Chicago were there to say “hold on.” My thanks to Joshua Connor, Joshua Daniel, Adam Darlage, Jeff Fowler, Joe Haydt, and Onsi Kamel, who have not only helped me think through my argument at different stages, but who have, at different times and in different ways, reminded me why the life of a scholar is one worth pursuing. Nathan Ristuccia has been an exceedingly careful, and often relentless, reader and has provided me with invaluable feedback. Our discussions, which have ranged well beyond Hume and eighteenth-century Britain, have been similarly edifying. Fr. Elias O’Brien, Fr. Paul Mankowski, Fr. Robin Ryan, and Michael England have provided me with needed guidance and nudges, and the occasional push, along the way. Justin Howell’s calm demeanor, sound counsel, and soul-lifting laughter stand among the great unexpected joys of my time at Chicago; whether in the Regenstein or at Jimmy’s, he is truly one hell of a bastard. vii Allison Gray has been the younger sister I never knew I needed; wiser and kinder than a single soul has a right to be, she has been an unyielding advocate for my abilities when I wondered if they were up to the task I had placed before them. James Vaughn has been the unofficial fourth member of my dissertation committee. A paragon of generosity and collegiality, he has read every page of this dissertation and has enriched it with his mastery of eighteenth-century British history and his unrelenting demand for serious thought. Beyond his immediate and obvious contributions to this project, James is a treasured, if sometimes infuriating, conversation partner and the truest of friends. There is a long list of family members and old friends whom I carried with me to Chicago in spirit, and one who was here in the flesh. I would not have had the courage to leave the practice of law and return to and then continue with graduate study had it not been for the advice and encouragement of Anne Rutter, Kerry Hartkopf, Bryan Nester, Fr. William Stevenson, Mira Getzinger Ringler, Greg Pemberton, Tim Byars, Paul Magreta, Karen Gaides, Jim Keniff, Ketan Patel, Jeff and Ann Whitley, Rob Baker, Greg Stanton, Charlie Contrada, Brian and Nikki Selden, Norman Beck, Bob Burpee, Gib Bickel, J. B. Hadden, Geoff Moul, and John, Ann, and Tom Schoger. I doubt I shall ever have more vocal or tender supporters than my paternal grandparents, the late Tom and Agnes Lyons. In addition to showering me with affection, they taught me the values of humility and simplicity at an age when I was still too stupid to see these virtues’ great worth. My mother, Carla Kaser, made me a skeptic long before I knew the word, and her good sense, support, and love have given me the confidence and courage to pursue my own path. I will always wish I were a bit more like her. My late father, Tom Lyons, always encouraged me even when he did not understand me and taught me that, above all else, a teacher is someone who viii feels compelled to give something back. Both of my parents have provided me with models of hard work and service that I strive to match. My niece, Arielle Lyons, and my nephews, T. J. Lyons and Owen Lyons, have been constant sources of joy. I will never be able to convey to them the deep love, obligation, and gratitude I feel toward them. I owe my deepest thanks to my brilliant and beautiful wife, Gretchen, and our sweet
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Politics of Liberty in England and Revolutionary America
    P1: IwX/KaD 0521827450agg.xml CY395B/Ward 0 521 82745 0 May 7, 2004 7:37 The Politics of Liberty in England and Revolutionary America LEE WARD Campion College University of Regina iii P1: IwX/KaD 0521827450agg.xml CY395B/Ward 0 521 82745 0 May 7, 2004 7:37 published by the press syndicate of the university of cambridge The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom cambridge university press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 2ru, uk 40 West 20th Street, New York, ny 10011-4211, usa 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, vic 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarcon´ 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa http://www.cambridge.org C Lee Ward 2004 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2004 Printed in the United States of America Typeface Sabon 10/12 pt. System LATEX 2ε [tb] A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Ward, Lee, 1970– The politics of liberty in England and revolutionary America / Lee Ward p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. isbn 0-521-82745-0 1. Political science – Great Britain – Philosophy – History – 17th century. 2. Political science – Great Britain – Philosophy – History – 18th century. 3. Political science – United States – Philosophy – History – 17th century. 4. Political science – United States – Philosophy – History – 18th century. 5. United States – History – Revolution, 1775–1783 – Causes.
    [Show full text]
  • Parliamentary Immunity
    Parliamentary Immunity A Comprehensive Study of the Systems of Parliamentary Immunity of the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands in a European Context Parliamentary Immunity A Comprehensive Study of the Systems of Parliamentary Immunity of the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands in a European Context DISSERTATION to obtain the degree of Doctor at the Maastricht University, on the authority of the Rector Magnificus, Prof. dr. L.L.G. Soete in accordance with the decision of the Board of Deans, to be defended in public on Thursday 26 September 2013, at 16.00 hours by Sascha Hardt Supervisor: Prof. mr. L.F.M. Verhey (Leiden University, formerly Maastricht University) Co-Supervisor: Dr. Ph. Kiiver Assessment Committee: Prof. dr. J.Th.J. van den Berg Prof. dr. M. Claes (Chair) Prof. dr. C. Guérin-Bargues (Université d’Orléans) Prof. mr. A.W. Heringa Prof. D. Oliver, MA, PhD, LLD Barrister, FBA (Univeristy College London) Cover photograph © Andreas Altenburger - Dreamstime.com Layout by Marina Jodogne. A commercial edition of this PhD-thesis will be published by Intersentia in the Ius Commune Europaeum Series, No. 119 under ISBN 978-1-78068-191-7. Für Danielle ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As I have been told, the idea that I could write a doctoral dissertation first occurred to Philipp Kiiver when he was supervising my bachelor thesis in 2007. At that time, I may well have dreamed of a PhD position, but I was far from having any actual plans, let alone actively pursuing them. Yet, not a year later, Luc Verhey and Philipp Kiiver asked me whether I was interested to join the newly founded Montesquieu Institute Maastricht as a PhD researcher.
    [Show full text]
  • LORD BOLINGBROKE's THEORY of PARTY and OPPOSITION1 By
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by St Andrews Research Repository Max Skjönsberg, HJ, Oct 2015 LORD BOLINGBROKE’S THEORY OF PARTY AND OPPOSITION1 By MAX SKJÖNSBERG, London School of Economics and Political Science Abstract: Bolingbroke has been overlooked by intellectual historians in the last few decades, at least in comparison with ‘canonical’ thinkers. This article examines one of the most important but disputable aspects of his political thought: his views on political parties and his theory of opposition. It aims to demonstrate that Bolingbroke’s views on party have been misunderstood and that it is possible to think of him as an advocate of political parties rather than the ‘anti-party’ writer he is commonly known as. It has been suggested that Bolingbroke prescribed a state without political parties. By contrast, this article seeks to show that Bolingbroke was in fact the promoter of a very specific party, a systematic parliamentary opposition party in resistance to what he perceived as the Court Whig faction in power. It will 1 I have benefited from comments by Adrian Blau, Tim Hochstrasser, Paul Keenan, Robin Mills, and Paul Stock, as well as conversations with J. C. D. Clark, Richard Bourke, and Quentin Skinner at various stages of this project. As usual, however, the buck stops with the writer. I presented an earlier and shorter version of this article at the inaugural Early-Modern Intellectual History Postgraduate Conference at Newcastle University in June 2015. Eighteenth-century spelling has been kept in quotations throughout as have inconsistencies in spelling.
    [Show full text]
  • Report of Proceedings of Tynwald Court
    REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS OF TYNWALD COURT Douglas, Tuesday, February 17, 1976 Present: The Governor (Sir John ing Bill; Social Security Legislation Paul,- G.C.M.G., O.B.E., M .C.), In the (Application) (Amendment) Bill; and Council: the Lord Bishop (the Rt. Rev. the Animal Offences Bill. If the Court Vernon Nicholls), the Attorney General concurs we will continue with our ('Mr. J. W. Corrin), Messrs. J. B. •business while these are being signed. Bolton, O.B.E., G. T. Crellin, E. N. It was agreed. Crowe, O.B.E., R. E. S. Kerruish, G. V. H. Kneale, J. C. ¡Nivison, W. E. Quayle, A. H. Sim'cocks, M.B.E., with PAPERS LAID (BEFORE THE COURT Mr. P. J. Hulme, Clerk oi the Council. The Governor: Item 3, I call upon In the Keys : The Speaker (Mr. H. C. the Clerk to lay papers. Kerruish, O.B.E.), Messrs. R. J. G. The Clerk: I lay before the C ourt:— Anderson, H. D. C. MacLeod, G. M. Kermeen, J. C. Clucas, P. Radcliffe, Governor’s Duties and Powers — J. R. Creer, E. Ranson, P. A. Spittall, Third Interim. Report o f the Select T. C. Faragher, N. Q. Cringle, E. G. Committee of Tynwald. Lowey, Mrs. E. C. Quayle, Messrs. W- Cremation Act 1957 — Cremation A. Moore, J.J. Bell, E. M. Ward, B.E.M., Regulations 1976. E. C. Irving, Miss K. E. Cowin, Mr. Value Added Tax — Value Added G. A. Devereau, Mrs. B. Q. Hanson, Tax (Isle of Man) (Fuel and Power) Messrs. R. MacDonald, P.
    [Show full text]
  • The Anglo-Saxon Period of English Law
    THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD OF ENGLISH LAW We find the proper starting point for the history of English law in what are known as Anglo-Saxon times. Not only does there seem to be no proof, or evidence of the existence of any Celtic element in any appreciable measure in our law, but also, notwithstanding the fact that the Roman occupation of Britain had lasted some four hundred years when it terminated in A. D. 410, the last word of scholarship does not bring to light any trace of the law of Imperial Rome, as distinct from the precepts and traditions of the Roman Church, in the earliest Anglo- Saxon documents. That the written dooms of our kings are the purest specimen of pure Germanic law, has been the verdict of one scholar after another. Professor Maitland tells us that: "The Anglo-Saxon laws that have come down to us (and we have no reason to fear the loss of much beyond some dooms of the Mercian Offa) are best studied as members of a large Teutonic family. Those that proceed from the Kent and Wessex of the seventh century are closely related to the Continental folk-laws. Their next of kin seem to be the Lex Saxonum and the laws of the Lom- bards."1 Whatever is Roman in them is ecclesiastical, the system which in course of time was organized as the Canon law. Nor are there in England any traces of any Romani who are being suffered to live under their own law by their Teutonic rulers.
    [Show full text]
  • Garofalo Book
    Chapter 1 Introduction Fantasies of National Virility and William Wordsworth’s Poet Leader Violent Warriors and Benevolent Leaders: Masculinity in the Early Nineteenth-Century n 1822 British women committed a public act against propriety. They I commissioned a statue in honor of Lord Wellington, whose prowess was represented by Achilles, shield held aloft, nude in full muscular glory. Known as the “Ladies’ ‘Fancy Man,’” however, the statue shocked men on the statue committee who demanded a fig leaf to protect the public’s out- raged sensibilities.1 Linda Colley points to this comical moment in postwar British history as a sign of “the often blatantly sexual fantasies that gathered around warriors such as Nelson and Wellington.”2 However, the statue in its imitation of a classical aesthetic necessarily recalled not only the thrilling glory of Great Britain’s military might, but also the appeal of the defeated but still fascinating Napoleon. After all, the classical aesthetic was central to the public representation of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic regimes. If a classical statue was supposed to apotheosize Wellington, it also inevitably spoke to a revolutionary and mar- tial manhood associated with the recently defeated enemy. Napoleon him- self had commissioned a nude classical statue from Canova that Marie Busco speculates “would have been known” to Sir Richard Westmacott, who cast the bronze Achilles. In fact Canova’s Napoleon was conveniently located in the stairwell of Apsley House after Louis XVIII presented it to the Duke of Wellington.3 These associations with Napoleon might simply have underscored the British superiority the Wellington statue suggested.
    [Show full text]
  • The Medieval English Borough
    THE MEDIEVAL ENGLISH BOROUGH STUDIES ON ITS ORIGINS AND CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY BY JAMES TAIT, D.LITT., LITT.D., F.B.A. Honorary Professor of the University MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS 0 1936 MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS Published by the University of Manchester at THEUNIVERSITY PRESS 3 16-324 Oxford Road, Manchester 13 PREFACE its sub-title indicates, this book makes no claim to be the long overdue history of the English borough in the Middle Ages. Just over a hundred years ago Mr. Serjeant Mere- wether and Mr. Stephens had The History of the Boroughs Municipal Corporations of the United Kingdom, in three volumes, ready to celebrate the sweeping away of the medieval system by the Municipal Corporation Act of 1835. It was hardly to be expected, however, that this feat of bookmaking, good as it was for its time, would prove definitive. It may seem more surprising that the centenary of that great change finds the gap still unfilled. For half a century Merewether and Stephens' work, sharing, as it did, the current exaggera- tion of early "democracy" in England, stood in the way. Such revision as was attempted followed a false trail and it was not until, in the last decade or so of the century, the researches of Gross, Maitland, Mary Bateson and others threw a fiood of new light upon early urban development in this country, that a fair prospect of a more adequate history of the English borough came in sight. Unfortunately, these hopes were indefinitely deferred by the early death of nearly all the leaders in these investigations.
    [Show full text]
  • Of Gods and Kings: Natural Philosophy and Politics in the Leibniz-Clarke Disputes Steven Shapin Isis, Vol. 72, No. 2. (Jun., 1981), Pp
    Of Gods and Kings: Natural Philosophy and Politics in the Leibniz-Clarke Disputes Steven Shapin Isis, Vol. 72, No. 2. (Jun., 1981), pp. 187-215. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-1753%28198106%2972%3A2%3C187%3AOGAKNP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-C Isis is currently published by The University of Chicago Press. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/journals/ucpress.html. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. The JSTOR Archive is a trusted digital repository providing for long-term preservation and access to leading academic journals and scholarly literature from around the world. The Archive is supported by libraries, scholarly societies, publishers, and foundations. It is an initiative of JSTOR, a not-for-profit organization with a mission to help the scholarly community take advantage of advances in technology. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. http://www.jstor.org Mon Aug 20 10:29:37 2007 Of Gods and Kings: Natural Philosophy and Politics in the Leibniz-Clarke Disputes By Steven Shapin* FTER TWO AND A HALF CENTURIES the Newton-Leibniz disputes A continue to inflame the passions.
    [Show full text]
  • Mary Shepherd and the Causal Relation
    Mary Shepherd and the Causal Relation The 3rd Earl of Rosebery with his family outside of Barnbougle Castle. Painted by Alexander Nasmyth in 1788. Mary Primrose is second from the right. Jennifer McRobert © 2002 Jennifer McRobert (revised February 2014) Author’s note: This manuscript was written a dozen years ago and then set aside. In February 2014, the text was lightly edited to eliminate some typos and to improve readability. There is no new research here, but the material may be of use to historians and others interested in early modern women philosophers. Contents Preface 5 Part One 7 1 God and the King: The Primrose Ancestry 8 2 A Childhood in Dalmeny 18 3 Hume and the Limits of Moderation 32 4 London, Marriage and Society 44 5 Causality and the Revolutionary Lens 54 Bibliography 66 Preface Lady Mary Shepherd (1777-1847) was born Mary Primrose, on 31 December 1777. The daughter of an Earl, she grew up on an estate near Edinburgh during the Scottish Enlightenment. Mary Shepherd's life and work were shaped in important ways by the philosophical and political controversies that arose in connection with David Hume and his philosophy. In particular, she was strongly motivated to refute the `erroneous notions’ of cause and effect advanced by Hume and his followers, which she viewed as leading to scepticism and atheism: When she undertook a public refutation of these erroneous notions of cause and effect, it must be remembered it was at a time when they were most rampant and widely spread over the northern parts of Britain in particular.
    [Show full text]
  • History of Britain from the Restoration to 1783
    History of Britain from the Restoration to 1783 HIS 334J (39130) & EUS 346 (36220) Fall Semester 2018 Charles II of England in Coronation Robes Pulling Down the Statue of George III at Bowling John Michael Wright, c. 1661-1662 Green in Lower Manhattan William Walcutt, 1857 ART 1.110 Tuesday & Thursday, 12:30 – 2:00 PM Instructor James M. Vaughn [email protected] Office: Garrison 3.218 (ph. 512-232-8268) Office Hours: Friday, 2:30 – 4:30 PM, and by appointment Course Description This lecture course surveys the history of England and, after the union with Scotland in 1707, the history of Great Britain from the English Revolution and the restoration of the Stuart monarchy (c. 1640-1660) to the War of American Independence (c. 1775-1783). The kingdom underwent a remarkable transformation during this period, with a powerful monarchy, a persecuting state church, a traditional society, and an agrarian economy giving way to parliamentary rule, religious toleration, a dynamic civil society, and a commercial and manufacturing-based economy on the eve of industrialization. How and why did this transformation take place? Over the course of the same period, Great Britain emerged as a leading European and world power with a vast commercial and territorial empire stretching across four continents. How and why did this island kingdom off the northwestern coast of Europe, geopolitically insignificant for much of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, become a Great Power and acquire a global empire in the 1 eighteenth century? How did it do so while remaining a free and open society? This course explores these questions as well as others.
    [Show full text]
  • Is the History of Science Essentially Whiggish?
    Hist. Sci., li (2013) IS THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE ESSENTIALLY WHIGGISH? David Alvargonzález University of Oviedo 1. THE STIGMATIC LABEL OF ‘WHIGGISM’ In his influential 1931essay The Whig interpretation of history, Herbert Butterfield criticized what he called the “Whig history”, the “study of the past for the sake of the present”; history, he stated, cannot be used to justify certain contents in the present. In particular, he denounced conceiving of history as a succession of goal-directed stages, such that past stages must be seen through the lens of their future goal. As his account goes, any investigation into the causes of historical change is hampered by anachronism, while any teleological, goal-directed narrative proves untenable. Butterfield, in the face of Whig historians, rather preferred an ideal whereby the past be studied “for the sake of the past”,1 whereby the historian become more than a mere observer and one who actually “goes out to meet the past”.2 Chief in the reticle of Butterfield’s book was the political history of the circum- stances leading to the Protestant Reformation and the modern constitution of the English people. There, he contradistinguished Whig history, which understood the Reformation as an inevitable step towards progress, from the Catholic, Tory inter- pretation of the same event; for Butterfield, Luther was nothing of a progressive. Whiggism, for him, was inherently related to what he called “abridged” or “general history” itself rectified, so to speak, by a specialized, technical history of very con- crete, detailed issues. Around the same time as Butterfield, Alexandre Koyré published his well-known Études galiléennes in the field of the history of science.3 In these important essays, Galileo takes shape less as a modern experimentalist (as a hagiographic present- centred history would have it) and more as a speculative Platonist seeking to refute Aristotelianism.
    [Show full text]
  • The Language of Impartiality and Party-Political Discourse in England, 1680–1745
    THE LANGUAGE OF IMPARTIALITY AND PARTY-POLITICAL DISCOURSE IN ENGLAND, 1680–1745 Christine Gerrard The terms ‘impartiality’ and, more particularly, ‘impartial’, play an impor- tant, if curiously under-researched role in party-political discourse dur- ing the period 1680–1745. This is the period that witnessed the birth of political parties in England, following the bitter ideological divisions of the English Civil War and the restored monarchy of Charles II in 1660. Charles’ royalist supporters in Parliament became known as ‘Tories’ and their opponents, who attacked absolutist rule and the succession of Charles’s Catholic brother James, were dubbed ‘Whigs’. Both labels orig- inally derived from insults hurled at one party by the other. The term ‘party’ itself had negative connotations during this period, and both Whigs and Tories made strenuous efforts to demonstrate that they were not a ‘political party’ but represented the interests of the nation at large. Recent studies of the language which the Whigs and Tories used to try to prove their non-partisanship have focused on their rival efforts to appropriate key terms such as ‘patriot’, ‘patriotism’, ‘country party’, ‘national interest’ and ‘public spirit’.1 These contested terms, however, overlap in important ways with an evolving political discourse of impartiality. The emergence of impartiality, as other essays in this volume will attest, is more often associated with developments in science, historiography, moral philoso- phy, and ethics, than with the cut-and-thrust world of party-politics. Yet the two terms ‘impartial’ and ‘party’ are of course semantically linked. To be ‘impartial’ means to be of no party, to be ‘non-partisan’.
    [Show full text]