Quentin Skinner: From Historian of Ideas to Political Scientist

Abstract

This article is an assessment of Quentin Skinner's contribution to the study of political change and to the contemporary debate in political philosophy. We argue that the significance of Skinner's work to a large extent has been neglected by political scientists, as they have tended to regard him solely as a historian of ideas rather than as a political scientist. However, Skinner's approach not only offers valuable methodological lessons but a historically grounded framework that accounts for the relationship between human agency and the structural language‐context, that make actions meaningful. This allows for a conception of historical change that is neither narrowly structuralist nor exclusively focused on the individual agent. In his most recent historical works, Skinner has entered the main debate of contemporary political philosophy, i. e. the debate between liberals and communitarians. Here, his analysis of the classical republican tradition of political thought, attempts a revitalization of the debate beyond the stereotypes of liberalism and Aristotelianism. This work points towards the possibility of developing a radical reconception of modern liberal democracy.

The Ethics of Interpretation in Political Theory and Intellectual History

“…Yet by making this turn toward the constructive reclamation of lost ideals in order to improve our politics, Skinner has become, at least in part, a presentist political theorist. 71 At least initially, Skinner was not entirely comfortable in his new role. In Liberty Before Liberalism, he still insists that the reclamation of republican liberty is not a normative project as such.…”

O contextualismo linguístico na história do pensamento político: Quentin Skinner e o debate metodológico contemporâneo

“…Munidos de uma possibilidade mais ampla, podemos nos distanciar dos compromissos intelectuais herdados e exigir um novo princípio de investigação sobre esses valores. (Skinner, 1999a:93-94) Este tipo de justificativa para a prática da história intelectual em benefício da crítica e da (re)formulação da teoria política contemporânea tem encontrado ressonância em inúmeros autores simpáticos à abordagem skinneriana (Janssen, 1985;Ball, 1995;Runciman, 2001;Edling e Morkenstam, 1995;Palonen, 2002;2003). O trabalho do historiador intelectual é apontado como uma espécie de preparação de terreno para o trabalho do teórico contemporâneo, uma condição para que este possa pensar além das amarras do passado e do paroquialismo do presente.…”