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In matters of democracy, ignorance about the past breeds misunderstandings of the present, sometimes with damaging effects on visions of what democracy might become in the future. What is needed is sharpened awareness of the historicity of its spirit, language and institutions, not for antiquarian reasons, but for the purpose of heightening our awareness that democracy’s future depends on grasping its present, as well as its past…
Against Servitude, CSD Interview with Quentin Skinner
Quentin Skinner talks to John Keane about Machiavelli, Hobbes, and the neo-Roman theory of liberty. This is an edited extract from a long interview conducted with him in May 2000 by John Keane and Milton Tosto. This text was published in the CSD Bulletin, Summer 2000, Vol. 7. N. 2: 10-13. Quentin Skinner is Regius Professor of [...]
Just War
BBC Radio 4′s Melvyn Bragg discusses the history and contemporary relevance of the idea of just war with John Keane and Niall Ferguson. Listen to Audio Alternatively visit the BBC Radio 4 website
More Theses on the Philosophy of History
By John Keane From James Tully (ed.), 1988, Meaning and Context: Quentin Skinner and His Critics, Princeton University Press. Chapter 12, pp. 204-17. 1. Political argument, it is often observed, comes into its own only during crisis conditions, when conventional beliefs and unargued assumptions begin to disintegrate and to be questioned. It is recognized less often [...]