TY - JOUR
T1 - The State Without Sovereignty
T2 - Authority and Obligation in Hume’s Political Philosophy
AU - Sagar, P
PY - 2016/1/1
Y1 - 2016/1/1
N2 - Hume has no theory of sovereignty. As a result he is frequently supposed to lack a proper theory of politics, providing only a political sociology incapable of addressing the central normative significance of political obligation in thinking about the modern state. This is a serious mistake. Hume addressed himself directly to the question of political obligation, but his argument was predicated upon a prior reconfiguration of our thinking about the nature, role, and power of philosophy. In coming to appreciate this prior reconfiguration, in particular via a re-‐examination of Hume's indirect engagement with Locke's earlier juridical political theory, we can properly appreciate Hume as advancing a radically innovative theory of political obligation. What emerges is the possibility of a theory of the state without sovereignty. As well as thereby revealing Hume to be a major and highly original post-‐Hobbesian theorist of the state, we are invited to consider whether present political theory would do better by adopting Hume's recommended philosophical reconceptualization.
AB - Hume has no theory of sovereignty. As a result he is frequently supposed to lack a proper theory of politics, providing only a political sociology incapable of addressing the central normative significance of political obligation in thinking about the modern state. This is a serious mistake. Hume addressed himself directly to the question of political obligation, but his argument was predicated upon a prior reconfiguration of our thinking about the nature, role, and power of philosophy. In coming to appreciate this prior reconfiguration, in particular via a re-‐examination of Hume's indirect engagement with Locke's earlier juridical political theory, we can properly appreciate Hume as advancing a radically innovative theory of political obligation. What emerges is the possibility of a theory of the state without sovereignty. As well as thereby revealing Hume to be a major and highly original post-‐Hobbesian theorist of the state, we are invited to consider whether present political theory would do better by adopting Hume's recommended philosophical reconceptualization.
UR - https://prsagar.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/state-without-sovereignty-website-version.pdf
UR - https://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/imp/hpt/2016/00000037/00000002/art00004
M3 - Article
SN - 0143-781X
VL - 37
SP - 271
EP - 305
JO - HISTORY OF POLITICAL THOUGHT
JF - HISTORY OF POLITICAL THOUGHT
IS - 2
ER -