Rethinking the Politics of Commercial Society

Fontana, Biancamaria

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511527388

Cited by 186 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Unlike Stewart's philosopher of mind, Ricardo had not submitted to a set of intellectual disciplines to which he could point as guarding him against the dangers of enthusiasm, and he was widely perceived to have succumbed to its dangers. 96 And yet Ricardo not only captured the public's attention (and through J. R. McCulloch, the Review's), 97 but purchased the rotten Irish borough of Portalington in order to insert himself into the heart of parliamentary reasoning, 98 and once so placed went about speaking "as if he had dropped from another planet," as he was described by Brougham. 99 From the perspective of Stewart, Ricardo would seem to exemplify the dangerous results that could arise when theory left the academy to be conducted by the untrained.…”

Section: Conclusion: the Tide Of Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Defending Political Theory After Burke: Stewart's Intellectual Disciplines and the Demotion of Practice

Walter¹

2019

Journal of the History of Ideas

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Section: Conclusion: the Tide Of Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Defending Political Theory After Burke: Stewart's Intellectual Disciplines and the Demotion of Practice

Walter¹

2019

Journal of the History of Ideas

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“…Serving as a selective receptacle for the heritage of the Scottish Enlightenment, the Review understood the mechanisms of modern commercial society in terms substantially the same as those employed by Hume. 52 For instance, like Hume, contributors to the Review argued that the foundation of government was "public opinion," namely that of a large, prosperous middle class. 53 In particular, it was claimed, the purpose of government was to represent and serve the "interests" of the governed.…”

Section: Epicureanism In Carlyle's Early Writingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

David Hume Is Pontiff of the World: Thomas Carlyle on Epicureanism, Laissez-Faire, and Public Opinion

Jordan¹

2017

J. Br. Stud.

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Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) is well known as one of the earliest and most vociferous critics of Benthamite utilitarianism. However, Carlyle understood Benthamism as the culmination of a much longer eighteenth-century tradition of Epicurean thought. Having been an enthusiastic reader of David Hume during his youth, Carlyle later turned against him, waging an increasingly violent polemic against all forms of Epicureanism. In these later works, Carlyle not only rejected the pursuit of “pleasure” as an appropriate end for the life of the individual, but also took umbrage with Epicurean accounts of sociability as the philosophical underpinnings of laissez-faire, representative democracy, and “public opinion.” For Carlyle, self-interest, no matter how “enlightened,” balanced, or channeled by institutions, could never provide a stable foundation for a political community. Carlyle's contemporaries were aware that his work was intended as an attack on the Epicurean tradition. When John Stuart Mill attempted to defend Epicureanism against Carlyle, several of the latter's disciples and sympathizers responded by extending Carlyle's earlier censures on Epicureanism.

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E dinburgh R eview Set

Schoenfield¹

2012

The Encyclopedia of Romantic Literature

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In 1802, a league of as‐yet largely undistinguished gentleman created the Edinburgh Review . Instantly successful in attracting attention and ultimately triumphant in reshaping public discourse across a range of literary and political issues for a middle‐class populous, the Edinburgh returned the compliment, by transforming this set of men into some of the most well known, influential, and extraordinary in Romantic‐era Great Britain. While contributors over the first 20 years of the Edinburgh's existence included Walter Scott, William Hazlitt, Robert Malthus, and (albeit only for one article), Samuel Taylor Coleridge, its progenitors – Sydney Smith, Francis Jeffrey, Francis Horner, and Henry Brougham – exemplified and magnified the journal's Whig agenda and literary programme. Despite the official anonymity of the journal – only the Edinburgh publisher Archibald Constable and London distributor Thomas Longman were announced on the title pages – the public quickly became aware of the primary authors and editors of the journal. (In a comic exchange, Hazlitt, who wrote that being an Edinburgh reviewer was the highest rank of literary society, was told by Jeffrey that the latter could not vouch for him as an Edinburgh author because of the policy of anonymity, and, in the same letter, was reminded by Jeffrey of the due date for an article.)

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Rethinking the Politics of Commercial Society

Cited by 186 publications

References 0 publications

Defending Political Theory After Burke: Stewart's Intellectual Disciplines and the Demotion of Practice

Defending Political Theory After Burke: Stewart's Intellectual Disciplines and the Demotion of Practice

David Hume Is Pontiff of the World: Thomas Carlyle on Epicureanism, Laissez-Faire, and Public Opinion

E dinburgh R eview Set

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