Visions of Politics 1.pdf

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VISIONS OF POLITICS

The ﬁrst of three volumes of essays by Quentin Skinner, one of

the world’s leading intellectual historians. This collection includes

some of his most important philosophical andmethodological state-

ments written over the past four decades, each carefully revised for

publication in this form. In a series of seminal essays Professor

Skinner sets forth the intellectual principles that inform his work.

Writing as a practising historian, he considers the theoretical difﬁ-

culties inherent in the pursuit of knowledge and interpretation, and

elucidates the methodology which ﬁnds its expression in his two

succeeding volumes. All of Professor Skinner’s work is characterised

by philosophical power, limpid clarity and elegance of exposition.

These essays, many of which are now recognised classics, provide a

fascinating and convenient digest of the development of his thought.

QUENTIN SKINNER is Regius Professor of Modern History in the

University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Christ’s College. He has

been the recipient of several honorary degrees, and is a Fellow

of numerous academic bodies including the British Academy, the

American Academy and the Academia Europea. His work has

been translated into nineteen languages, and his many publica-

tions include The Foundations of Modern Political Thought (two volumes,

Cambridge,

), Machiavelli (Oxford,

), Reason and Rhetoric in

the Philosophy of Hobbes (Cambridge,

) and Liberty before Liberalism

(Cambridge,

VISIONS OF POLITICS

Volume

: Regarding Method

QUENTIN SKINNER

Regius Professor of Modern History

University of Cambridge