Pyrrhonism in the Political Philosophy of Thomas Hobbes

The importance of Pyrrhonism to Hobbes's political philosophy is much greater than has been recognized. He seems to have used Pyrrhonist arguments to support a doctrine of moral relativity, but he was not a sceptic in the Pyrrhonist sense. These arguments helped him to develop his teaching that there is no absolute good or evil; to minimise the purchase of natural law in the state of nature and its restrictions on the right of nature; virtually to collapse natural law into civil law; and to make the sovereign the political, moral and theological epicenter of his political system.     

The Jewish Social Contract: An Essay in Political Theology – David Novak

Book reviewed:
The Jewish Social Contract: An Essay in Political Theology , David Novak, Princeton University Press 2005 (0-691-12210-5), xxi + 257 pp., hb $39.50     

Coercion,Care, and Corporations: Omissions and Commissions in Thomas Pogge's Political Philosophy

This article argues that Thomas Pogge's important theory of global justice does not adequately appreciate the relation between interactional and institutional accounts of human rights, along with the important normative role of care and solidarity in the context of globalization. It also suggests that more attention needs to be given critically to the actions of global corporations and positively to introducing democratic accountability into the institutions of global governance. The article goes on to present an alternative approach to global justice based on a more robust conception of human rights grounded in a conception of equal positive freedom, in which these rights are seen to apply beyond the coercive political institutions to which Pogge primarily confines them (e.g. to prohibiting domestic violence), and in which they can guide the development of economic, social and political forms to enable their fulfillment.     

契约观念与正当性——一个政治哲学史的视角

作为政治学的重要范畴,契约观念与政治生活中的正当性问题紧紧交织在一起。这一范畴有特定的西方政治哲学传统的背景,并在不同时代语境之中有其不同的内涵和特质。在西方政治发展的不同阶段,契约观念分别与政治服从的必要性、政治权威合法性和政府行为的范围与限度等问题密切相关。契约政治观念体现了人类实现自我治理的理想。     

Political Philosophy: The View from Cambridge

This article reports on a conversation convened by Quentin Skinner at the invitation of the Editors of The Journal of Political Philosophy and held in Cambridge on 13 February 2001.     

斯克拉顿的新保守主义政治哲学

斯克拉顿的政治哲学深受黑格尔法哲学的影响.斯克拉顿对权威、秩序、传统、财产、制度等保守主义核心理论预设的阐述和强调,继承了柏克以来保守主义的基本观点,抨击以理性主义为基础的自由主义政治哲学,把怀疑主义的传统保守主义带入现代.     

The Creativity Paradox: An Introductory Essay

In this introductory article to the special issue, I explore the trope of paradox to think through the idea of creativity. Traditionally, metaphor has been the favored trope to conceptualize creativity: the combination of two existing elements into something different, something new. In this special issue, we focus on the trope of paradox as a trope defined by juxtaposition and an apparently irresolvable conflict to delineate creativity. Glossing the usefulness of paradox for artistic as well as scientific creativity, I show how the idea of Janusian thinking or being in two minds holds great potential to bridge creativity research in the humanities and social sciences. This issue starts building that bridge with multidisciplinary perspectives on creativity that, first, deconstruct apparent dichotomies in creativity research and, second, approach creativity as a situated, distributed concept.     

The Political Philosophy of Sissela Bok

ABSTRACT  Sissela Bok's two main works, on lying and secrets, have not received all the attention they deserve. This is possibly because the underlying structure from which she is working is not, at least according to the critics, made sufficiently explicit. I believe that this structure is found in Sissela Bok's commitment to the fundamental tenets of democracy. This not only provides a framework that is clearly discernible but also gives her books an urgency, and supplies the solid basis necessary for taking up the challenges she puts forward. This is particularly important now that new democracies in Eastern Europe are looking to established democracies in the West for guidelines.