History of Western Political Thought. Volume 3, 16th Century~18th Century

Author: Xu Datong, Chief Editor / Gao Jian, Volume Editor
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: This volume is divided into three historical periods: the 15th-16th centuries, the 17th century, and the 18th century. It focuses on introducing the political thought of figures such as Machiavelli, Luther, Calvin, Bodin, Althusius, Grotius, Hook, Milton, Harrington, Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Paine, Jefferson, Hume, Burke, and Kant. The secularization and modernity of political theory are prominent characteristics of political thought during this period. Due to the development of capitalist production relations and the establishment of the dominance of the market economy in the West, the political view of rights replaced the theological view of politics, becoming the prevailing political perspective. Natural rights and the social contract theory became the starting points and pathways for justifying new political thought, with liberalism emerging as the dominant ideology. At the same time, the various complex and acute contradictions arising from capitalist development led to intense competition among different schools of thought. The differences in historical and cultural traditions among European and North American countries, along with varying paths of capitalist development, resulted in distinct characteristics in their political thought. Against the backdrop of the British and French Revolutions, two paradigms emerged, forming the "constitutional democracy" represented by Locke and the "radical democracy" represented by Rousseau.