bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Poststructuralism
Authors: Choat Simon 
Published: August 2023

Abstract“Poststructuralism” is a convenient label rather than a coherent movement or ideology. It refers to a collection of theories and ideas that were first developed in France in the 1960s and which began to rise to prominence after the student–worker protests of May 1968. Key figures within poststructuralism include Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, and Gilles Deleuze. Although these thinkers are all French, their work was only called “poststructuralist” after its reception and development in Britain and North America. They did not identify themselves as poststructuralists, and even rejected this name, not least because they used a diverse range of approaches and methodologies and were often highly critical of each other's work.
Power
Authors: Haugaard Mark 
Published: August 2023

Abstract

There is no single uncontested definition of power, but many theorists converge on a general characterization of power either as the
capacity
to make another do something that that person would not otherwise do or as the
exercise
of such a capacity. The reason for this lack of agreement is that power is either an
essentially contested concept
or a
family resemblance
concept.
Progressivism
Authors: Eisenach Eldon J. 
Published: August 2023

AbstractThe Progressive era spans the period between the 1880s and 1920s. The origins of Progressivism as a body of thought and as a political movement, however, lie in the Republican Party of the 1860s. Lincoln represented their highest civic ideals and attained a sacred status in a civil religion that defined America as a covenant nation pledged to bring democracy and justice to the world. The restoration of highly competitive partisanship in the gilded age brought with it, however, political machines and party bosses who battened on graft and corruption and on the dependencies of vulnerable immigrant populations flooding into northern urban centers. The withdrawal of the respect and recognition that reformers had received earlier through the Republican Party and its allied associations drove women, clergymen, and the educated middle class generally away from political life. The rise of an aggressive and aggrandizing business culture added to their sense of alienation and loss.
Protagoras (ca. 490–420 BCE)
Authors: Ray Clyde 
Published: August 2023

AbstractProtagoras was a Presocratic Greek philosopher and founder of sophistic education whose doctrine of skepticism is criticized by Socrates in the Platonic dialogues. Believed to have been born in Abdera, Thrace, Protagoras was educated in philosophy by Democritus, a natural scientist and theorist of atomism. Aside from his career as a teacher, little is known concerning his life or career beyond brief biographical sketches provided by Diogenes Laertius and Sextus Empiricus. During his time in Athens, Protagoras associated with Pericles and other elites while composing a number of treatises on subjects ranging from the art of dialectic argument to wrestling. Diogenes has suggested that Protagoras was invited by Pericles to draft a constitution for the Athenian colony of Thurii in 443 bce. Protagoras’ professed agnosticism caused him to be expelled from Athens, and though tradition holds that his books were publicly burned, contemporary scholars have cast doubt on this claim. He died in exile.
Ptolemy of Lucca (Tolomeo Fiadoni) (ca. 1236–1327)
Authors: Blythe James M. 
Published: August 2023

AbstractPtolemy of Lucca (born Tolomeo Fiadoni) was a Dominican prior in Lucca and Florence and bishop of Torcello. Known largely for the republican political ideas inOn the Government of Rulers(De Regimine Principum), a work begun by his teacher, Thomas Aquinas, he also wrote other political works, histories, and biblical commentary.
Public Sphere
Authors: Ward Ian 
Published: August 2023

AbstractIn its broadest sense, “public sphere” refers to a class of political institutions, practices, and activities where participants exchange ideas about matters of common concern. Given the varied uses to which the term has been put in the humanities and social sciences, it has assumed different meanings, depending on which specific institutions, practices, activities, and participants are singled out for attention by the relevant thinker or theory. Political thought and practice thus feature a variety of alternative and competing conceptions of the public sphere; of particular importance are the roles these conceptions play in debates concerning modernization and democracy.
Punishment
Authors: Federman Cary 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
This entry explains the political theory of punishment. The definition of punishment is somewhat elusive, but among nations dedicated to the rule of law, it usually includes the following ideas: (1) an offender has violated a public law that carries with it a sanction; (2) there is an official governmental response that involves arrest and trial; (3) the offender has the right to counsel and a number of other procedural protections; (4) punishment follows a jury's or a judge's decision; and (5) the punishment deprives the offender of a right and is sufficient for the crime and not more so. To facilitate the investigation into punishment's meaning, the entry begins with an overview of ancient and medieval punishment and then discusses modern conceptions of punishment, by focusing on key thinkers who have written on punishment. Modern punishment differs from ancient and medieval punishment in important respects, principally through the use of the prison and other disciplinary techniques.
Puritanism
Authors: Moots Glenn A. 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
“Puritanism” is a term first used to refer to dissenters and nonconformists dedicated to ecclesiastical reform (and, most likely, constituent moral and political reform) in England and America. It is also sometimes applied to reformers in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland and on the Continent as well. Used first in England around 1564 and in Scotland in the 1590s, it was intended as a term of derision but then adopted by its targets as a badge of honor and tribute to their piety. As Puritan ecclesiastical demands were mooted through the creation of separate churches, the term “Puritan” came to indicate someone who opposes sensual indulgence, leisure, or celebration. It later became a term applied to literary style or moralistic social movements.
Race
Authors: Seth Vanita 
Published: August 2023

Abstract

The etymology of the word “race” traces its history back to the thirteenth century. By the sixteenth century it had entered most European languages. Its meanings included rage (
razen
in Dutch), a species, kind, stock descent, lineage (
razza
in Italian), horse breeding (
raza
in Spanish), power, authority, kingship, and kingdom (
rīce
in Old English), and in Middle English
ras
denoted swift course, speed, or current. By the nineteenth century “race” had come to take on the meaning we commonly associate it with today.
Radicalism
Authors: Thompson Michael J. 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
In its broadest sense, the term “radicalism” in political thought has meant a transformation of the basic or fundamental structures of social life and the value systems of any society. Although the substance of radicalism as a coherent tradition in political thought predates the term “radical,” it can be said that it is a concept that evolved, gained strength, and even gave rise to modernity. Radicalism can be understood on its surface as a kind of political doctrine that emphasizes a break with the prevailing institutions and values that govern any given social order in favor of one that is viewed as less corrupt. In this sense, radicalism should not be seen as intrinsically progressive or conservative in nature. Rather, it denotes a particular approach to the status quo of society and not a specific political doctrine.
Rancière, Jacques (1940–)
Authors: Chambers Samuel A. 
Published: August 2023

AbstractJacques Rancière is a French thinker, writer, and public intellectual who speaks widely in Europe, the UK, and North America. He is currently professor of philosophy at the European Graduate School in Saas‐Fee, Switzerland, and emeritus professor at the University of Paris (St. Denis). Rancière, like other well‐known French political thinkers such as Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault, was a student of Louis Althusser, and Rancière's work first became visible when he, along with a number of Althusser's other seminar students, served as a co‐author onReading Capital.
Rawls, John (1921–2002)
Authors: Klosko George 
Published: August 2023

AbstractJohn Rawls was a major twentieth‐century moral and political philosopher. His monumentalA Theory of Justiceprovides a powerful defense of the liberal welfare state and the priority of individual liberty over other values. InTheoryRawls claims that justice is the “first virtue of social institutions,” and attempts to establish principles of distributive justice to govern the workings of society's “basic structure,” its major political, social, and economic institutions. These are the proper focus of distributive justice, because of the decisive influence they exert on people's life prospects.Theoryis credited with reviving normative political philosophy among Anglo‐American philosophers and, since its publication, has served as a model for the practice of political philosophy.
Reid, Thomas (1710–96)
Authors: Hoffman Aaron D. 
Published: August 2023

Abstract

Thomas Reid was one of the major figures of the Scottish Enlightenment. He is often credited as the founder of Scottish common sense philosophy. Reid was a minister in the Church of Scotland and regent at King's College, Aberdeen, succeeded Adam Smith as professor of moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow, and authored three major works of philosophy:
An Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense
(1764),
Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man
(1785), and
Essays on the Active Powers of Man
(1788). Though often overlooked or underappreciated in the standard history of western philosophy, Reid and common sense philosophy had an influence upon the American academic community. Reid's philosophical work was a direct response to the skepticism of David Hume. Unfortunately for Reid, his reputation suffered in comparison to that other celebrated critic of Hume, Immanuel Kant.
Religious Freedom
Authors: Murphy Andrew R. 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
Religious freedom is one of the central elements of the liberal‐democratic tradition, and refers generally to the political liberty of individuals and groups to worship alongside like‐minded believers in accordance with the dictates of their consciences, and to enjoy the rights and privileges of citizenship regardless of their religious affiliations (or lack thereof). The term encompasses a variety of potential institutional arrangements, as authorities in different times and places have sought to balance the commitments of individuals and groups on the one hand, with the rule of law on the other.
Republican Political Thought
Authors: Gourevitch Alex 
Published: August 2023

Abstract“Republican political thought” comes from the Latin wordrespublica, which means public thing or common property. Arespublicais a government that serves common rather than private ends. It is usually assumed that a republic must be self‐governing and that republican liberty is only possible in a free republic. While various traditions of political thought are built out of these simple ideas, “republican political thought” refers to a late modern scholarly paradigm that interprets or draws inspiration from earlier periods of reflection on the classical Roman and Greek republics. Neo‐republican scholars have rewritten the history of political thought in terms of the development and defeat of a classical, republican view of liberty. They have also attempted to revive some idea of “republican liberty” as an alternative to liberal theories of freedom and politics. Though a vital research program, republican political thought has not yet shown how its institutional program is strongly different from liberalism and it has been relatively quiet about economic questions.
Revolution
Authors: LeJeune John 
Published: August 2023

AbstractRevolutions are forceful transformations of a society's political institutions, ruling regime, and social basis of political authority. A revolution's radical and noninstitutionalized character separates it from constitutional reform, and the combination of “(a) efforts to change the political regime that draw on a competing vision (or visions) of just order, (b) a notable degree of informal or formal mass mobilization, and (c) efforts to force change through noninstitutionalized actions such as mass demonstrations, protests, strikes, or violence” distinguishes revolutions from related events like coups, rebellions, and civil wars.
Roman Catholic Political Thought
Authors: Bradley Lewis V. 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
The New Testament says little about politics, forcing upon early Christian thinkers the necessity of working out political ideas based on their immediate circumstances and the available pagan philosophy. Four central notions that do have biblical warrant are (1) the distinction between spiritual and temporal power; (2) the divine sanction for political authority with a consequent obligation to obey on the part of Christians when the demands of government do not violate divine law, but to obey God rather than men when they do; (3) the brotherhood of all men transcending political allegiance; and (4) the notion of a natural knowledge of morality accessible to all men, believers and unbelievers alike, foundational for the idea of the natural moral law.
Rorty, Richard (1931–2007)
Authors: Voparil Christopher J. 
Published: August 2023

Abstract

A key intellectual figure of the late twentieth century and primary force behind the resurgence of American pragmatism, Richard Rorty gained notoriety for his sweeping critique of the western philosophical tradition in
Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature
. As he developed the consequences of his pragmatic philosophy over the next three decades in works like
Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity
,
Truth and Progress
,
Achieving Our Country
,
Philosophy and Social Hope
, and
Philosophy as Cultural Politics
, a deep set of democratic commitments and a vision for realizing them emerged. Rorty's thought depicts a mode of political theorizing that aims to move beyond “the entire cultural tradition which made truth a central virtue” of which political theorists have only begun to take full stock. Hope replaces transcendental knowledge, a lightly sketched possible future takes the place of appeals to an independent reality, stories supplant rational arguments, and abstract notions of humanity and rights are abandoned for felt, emotional identifications with particular communities. His work offers a large‐scale program for self‐criticism and reform of western societies by modifying their “self‐image” to make them more responsive to suffering and injustice, both at home and abroad.
Rosenzweig, Franz (1886–1929)
Authors: Morgan Michael L. 
Published: August 2023

Abstract

Franz Rosenzweig (1886–1929) was born in Kassel. After two years in medical school, he entered the University of Freiburg in 1908 to study history and philosophy. He completed his doctorate under Friedrich Meinecke in 1912 with a dissertation on Hegel's political philosophy, an expanded version of which was published in 1920 as
Hegel und der Staat
. In 1910, after a summer conference in Baden‐Baden, he abandoned his allegiance to Meinecke's conception of the nation‐state and its historical accomplishments and turned to religion and specifically Judaism to find the foundations of a fulfilled human existence.
Rousseau, Jean‐Jacques (1712–78)
Authors: Johnston Steven 
Published: August 2023

AbstractRousseau is arguably the most profound and provocative democratic theorist in the history of political thought. Profound because the social and political questions he addresses trade in paradoxes productive to democratic thought; provocative because he deems democracy indispensable but impossible, what must but cannot be. Rousseau's work is nothing if not unique, perhaps especially in its ability to defy a single interpretive understanding and generate both passionate appreciators and detractors. Rousseau wrote incendiary texts that threatened the contemporary order of things (“Man was/is born free and everywhere he is in chains”); they also transcend their context of creation and speak to peoples, places, and times, including our own, that either aspire to democracy, suffering from its lack, or appear to be democratic, suffering from its distortion. Whether democracy triumphs or it disappears, Rousseau's thought retains relevance and urgency.
Roy, M. N. (1887–1954)
Authors: Manjapra Kris 
Published: August 2023

AbstractManabendra Nath Roy (1887–1954) was an Indian Marxist philosopher and an anticolonial revolutionary. He became a mid‐century exponent of philosophical cosmopolitanism. Roy is widely considered one of the first thinkers to develop a specifically Indian form of systematic Marxist thought (Ray 1998).
Rule of Law
Authors: James Stephen 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
The rule of law – a doctrine about how law constrains the arbitrary use of power – has been an important part of liberal approaches to law and government, especially since the nineteenth century. Historically, it has been summed up in the ideal of a “government of laws, not men,” a government under law, not above it. Its greatest influence has been on the jurisprudence, constitutional theory, and legal doctrine of countries of the British common law world, particularly England and Australia. Since England does not have a written constitution, while Australia has a fairly mechanical one that rarely mentions constitutionalist values, the doctrine of the rule of law has been most influential in those countries. In contrast, as a doctrine the rule of law has had less direct influence upon the jurisprudence of the United States where liberal‐constitutionalist values are spelt out in a written constitution with a Bill of Rights.
Santayana, George (Jorge Augustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana) (1863–1952)
Authors: Kinzel Till 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
As a philosopher, Santayana was a materialist and atheist. His early work, strongly influenced by Schopenhauer, concerned the sense of beauty (aesthetics). Later, this concern would also color his political philosophy. In political terms, Santayana gave preference to order above chaos to such a degree that he expressed a general sympathy for the domestic policies of early Italian fascism, even though he regarded Mussolini as an evil man and his warlike foreign policies as disastrous. In other respects, Santayana was opposed to the phenomena of modern mass political systems, including what he regarded as “Americanism” and “liberalism.” He maintained that aristocratic elements in society ought to be preserved, for these were eminently compatible with reason in society.
Schmitt, Carl (1888–1985)
Authors: Shapiro Kam 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
Carl Schmitt (1888–1985) was a German public jurist and political scholar who served as an advisor to leaders in both the Weimar government and the Nazi Party, which he joined in 1933. However, his incisive criticisms of liberalism, legal formalism, and global political institutions have influenced postwar thinkers from across the political spectrum. Long disregarded because of his affiliation with the Nazis, his writings gained renewed scholarly attention with their translation and publication in English, beginning in the 1980s.
Scholasticism
Authors: Hendrix Scott E. 
Published: August 2023

Abstract

Scholasticism developed as a method of critical inquiry and an approach to knowledge based on dialectical reasoning. Scholastics privilege the analytical tools developed by Aristotle (384–322
bce
) and later rigorously systematized by thirteenth‐century philosopher/theologians, most notably Albert the Great (1200–80) and his disciple Thomas Aquinas (1225–74). The term “Scholasticism” is derived from the Latin
scholasticus
, applied first to masters of the Cathedral Schools that began to spring up in Europe during the Carolingian renaissance of the ninth century.
Duns Scotus, John (1266–1308)
Authors: Scott Joanna Vecchiarelli 
Published: August 2023

AbstractThe “subtle doctor,” possibly born in Duns in the Scottish Borders, Duns Scotus, a Franciscan monk, lectured at Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, and Cologne. Controversial during his lifetime, Duns Scotus rejected both the authority of Thomistic Aristotelianism and Philip the Fair's control over local church property.
Secularism
Authors: Scherer Matthew 
Published: August 2023

AbstractSecularism constrains religion to a sphere of private and individual belief, construed as the domain of conscience, thus clearing the way for the governance of public life by mechanisms devoid of religious origins and intentions, such as rational deliberation, competition of interests, and instrumental reason. It is both an ideological and an institutional formation that emerged within Europe and its colonies as the result of a process of secularization itself roughly coextensive with the modern age and culminating in the separation of church and state.
Self and the Other
Authors: Corlett William 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
“Self and the other” – a theme, a concept, sometimes a mere presupposition – expresses a relationship, a multifaceted relation between two contested concepts. This relationship traverses western political theory and other theoretical traditions. In fact, this expression is sometimes used to describe the relations between nonwestern and western traditions themselves. These traditions of political theory combine source materials from many eras and places. For this reason, “self and the other” provides an opening through which one can detect the scope and urgency of debates in political theory as they concern power relations between people, animals, and material things. Several times and places are revisited especially often for textual sources: ancient Greece, Enlightenment Europe, nineteenth‐ and early twentieth‐century Europe, and late twentieth‐century Europe and the Americas.
Sen, Amartya (1933–)
Authors: Bush Sasha Breger 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
Amartya Sen is a scholar, teacher and prolific author whose work ranges broadly over the fields of economics, political and moral philosophy, international development, public health, gender studies, and war and peace. Among Sen's most influential contributions are his Nobel Prize‐winning research with Jean Drèze on the causes of hunger and famine, the “capabilities approach” to international development developed with Mahbub ul Haq, and his reflections on the idea of justice. Sen is currently the Thomas W. Lamont University Professor and Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Separation of Powers
Authors: Weiner Greg 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
Separation of powers is a doctrine according to which the legislative, executive, and judicial functions of a regime should be exercised by distinct departments in order to protect the individual from exposure to arbitrary power at the hands of a single authority wielding the entire power of the state. It has been described, alongside representation, as a foundational element of western constitutional thought. The doctrine is the symbiotic product of several strands of western thought as well as of the political development of western states.