Elshtain (social & political ethics, Univ. of Chicago; Just War Against Terror) deals here with the origins and development of our current concept of political and personal sovereignty, tracing its history from Augustine to Nietzsche and noting the move toward absolute autonomy of the state and the individual. According to Elshtain, even individual sovereignty becomes tyranny without relationships and community. We are created to love and that puts a limit on our sovereignty, she writes; "if we refuse to observe a limit, we are destroyers." Elshtain reexamines the relevant writings of Martin Luther, John Calvin, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and many others in light of her philosophical analysis. She also applies her insight to postmodernism, radical feminism, and other modern movements, showing in her approach a deep knowledge of her subject matter. An excellent scholarly, philosophical analysis of a difficult concept that Elshtain makes surprisingly accessible to readers outside her field; recommended primarily for academic and large public libraries.
—C. Robert Nixon
Sovereignty: God, State, and Self
by Jean Bethke ElshtainView All Available Formats & Editions
In this seminal work in the fields of political history and political theory, Jean Bethke Elshtain shows how the powerful notion of sovereignty—complete independence and self-government—has irrevocably sculpted contemporary notions of God, state and self. Elshtain examines the conceptual underpinnings of sovereignty, considering the early modern ideas of
Overview
In this seminal work in the fields of political history and political theory, Jean Bethke Elshtain shows how the powerful notion of sovereignty—complete independence and self-government—has irrevocably sculpted contemporary notions of God, state and self. Elshtain examines the conceptual underpinnings of sovereignty, considering the early modern ideas of God that formed the basis for the modern paradigm of the sovereign state, and making the unprecedented claim that political theories of state sovereignty fuel contemporary understandings of sovereignty of the self—arguing, in other words, that when we understand why we have the politics we have, we will understand what makes humans themselves tick. The implications of Elshtain’s monumental thesis go as far as to suggest that self-sovereignty, which understands the self to be an independent, self-sufficient entity, undermines the bedrock on which human communities are fundamentally sustained. In thoughtful, provocative prose, Elshtain explores the connections between our political and ethical convictions, changing forever the way we understand the notion of sovereignty.
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Product Details
- ISBN-13:
- 9780465037599
- Publisher:
- Basic Books
- Publication date:
- 09/20/2005
- Series:
- Gifford Lectures
- Pages:
- 352
- Product dimensions:
- 6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.40(d)
- Age Range:
- 18 Years
Meet the Author
Jean Bethke Elshtain is the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics at The University of Chicago. She is the author of over four hundred essays in scholarly journals and journals of civic opinion, and some one hundred and seventy five book reviews, and was a contributing editor at The New Republic. Among her books are Jane Addams and the Dream of American Democracy (Basic, 2001), Just War Against Terror (Basic, 2003) and Democracy on Trial (Basic, 1995). She lives in Nashville, Tennessee and Chicago, Illinois.
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