Imagination and politics in seventeenth-century England
By: Todd Butler.
Publisher: Ashgate Pub.
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Aldershot, England; Burlington, VT
Language: eng
Number of pages: 200
ISBN-13: 9780754658832
Subjects: Bacon, Francis, -- 1561-1626; Milton, John, -- 1608-1674; Hobbes, Thomas, -- 1588-1679; English literature -- Early modern, 1500-1700 -- History and criticism; Politics and literature -- Great Britain -- History -- 17th century; Masques, English -- History and criticism; Political science -- Great Britain -- History -- 17th century; Imagination; Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1603-1714; England -- Intellectual life -- 17th century
Description: "Todd Butler here proposes a new epistemology of early modern politics, one that sees - as did writers of the period - human thought as a precursor to political action. By focusing not on reason or the will but on the imagination, Butler uncovers a political culture in seventeenth-century England that is far more shifting and multi-polar than has been previously recognized. Pursuing the connection between individual thought and corporate political action, he also charts the existence of a discourse that grounds modern scholarly interests in the representational nature of early modern politics - its images, rituals and entertainment - within a language early moderns themselves used."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 185-196) and index.