Mortal Gods : : Science, Politics, and the Humanist Ambitions of Thomas Hobbes / / Ted H. Miller.

According to the commonly accepted view, Thomas Hobbes began his intellectual career as a humanist, but his discovery, in midlife, of the wonders of geometry initiated a critical transition from humanism to the scientific study of politics. In Mortal Gods, Ted Miller radically revises this view, arg...

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Superior document:Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Penn State University Press Complete eBook-Package Pre-2014
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Place / Publishing House:University Park, PA : : Penn State University Press, , [2021]
©2011
Year of Publication:2021
Language:English
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Physical Description:1 online resource (344 p.) :; 4 illustrations
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Other title:Frontmatter --
Contents --
Acknowledgments --
1 Introduction --
2 The Humanist Face of Hobbes's Mathematics, Part 1 --
3 Constraints That Enable the Imitation of God --
4 King of the Children of Pride: The Imitation of God in Context --
5 Architectonic Ambitions: Mathematics and the Demotion of Physics --
6 Eloquence and the Audience Thesis --
7 All Other Doctrines Exploded: Hobbes, History, and the Struggle over Teaching --
8 The Humanist Face of Hobbes's Mathematics, Part 2: Leviathan and the Making of a Masque-Text --
9 Conclusion --
Appendix: Who Is a Geometer? --
Notes --
Bibliography --
Index
Summary:According to the commonly accepted view, Thomas Hobbes began his intellectual career as a humanist, but his discovery, in midlife, of the wonders of geometry initiated a critical transition from humanism to the scientific study of politics. In Mortal Gods, Ted Miller radically revises this view, arguing that Hobbes never ceased to be a humanist. While previous scholars have made the case for Hobbes as humanist by looking to his use of rhetoric, Miller rejects the humanism/mathematics dichotomy altogether and shows us the humanist face of Hobbes's affinity for mathematical learning and practice. He thus reconnects Hobbes with the humanists who admired and cultivated mathematical learning-and with the material fruits of Great Britain's mathematical practitioners. The result is a fundamental recasting of Hobbes's project, a recontextualization of his thought within early modern humanist pedagogy and the court culture of the Stuart regimes. Mortal Gods stands as a new challenge to contemporary political theory and its settled narratives concerning politics, rationality, and violence.
Format:Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
ISBN:9780271056852
9783110745269
DOI:10.1515/9780271056852?locatt=mode:legacy
Access:restricted access
Hierarchical level:Monograph
Statement of Responsibility: Ted H. Miller.