英国启蒙运动中的乌托邦思想
2003-5
中国政法
克雷斯 编
305
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This is the first major collcetion of eighteenth-century British utopias.Seven tracts ,spanning the centur ,show how the image of the ideal society was used as a form of social criticism,and particularly as a means of focussing on ideas of progress and commercial deveopment.Radical and republican thinding about property ownership ,social equality, and commerce and luxury - of particular relevance to the critique of corruption in this period - coexists with nostalgic and conservative notions of the ideal hierarchical community.The introduction.which sets hese tracts in a wider conetxt of similar texts,examines their realtionship to the political thought of the period,and shows how issues and developments of key importance,from the debate surrounding the French revolution to the origins of Romanticism and early socialism,are iluminated by an understanding of the utopian tradition.
IntroductionChronology of main eighteenth-century British utopian and anti-utopian textsBibliographical noteA note on the textsAnon:The Island of Content:or,A New Paradise Discovered Anon:A Description of New Athens in Terra Australis IncognitaDavid Hume:Idea of a Perfect CommonwealthJames Burgh:An Account of the First Settlement,Laws,Form of Goverment ,and Police,of the Cessares,A People of South AmericaThomas Northmore:Memoirs of Planetes,or a Sketch of the Laws and Manners of Makarr William Hodgson:The Commonwealth of Reason Anon:Bruce`s Voyage to NaplesIndex
The first Business that we were set about, was to learn their Lan- guage; to the obtaining a Mastery in which, my little Skill in the Greek was no small Help; for tho their Tongue be very much alterd from the ancient Greek, yet it retains not only the Character, but many of the Radical Words of the Attick Dialect. The Care of my Instructor, with my own Diligence and Application, made me such a Proficient, that I could, in two Months time, talk it almost as well as a Native; and in two Months more, was able to translate any thing out of English into it. But I have forgot to tell you, that as soon as I had Instructors ordered me by the King, I was removd from the Hospital of the Strangers, into a very pleasant Apartment in the Col-lege of the Muses, where I enjoyd all things that were any ways neces-sary to make my Life easy and pleasant; and as I grew a greaterMaster of their Language, my Pleasure was heightend by the Con-versation of the most Polite, as well as the most Humane of all Man-kind; and which confirmd me in a Mastery of their Tongue sooner than I could else have accomplishd it: They omitted no Means of rendring their Instructions agreeable, as well as useful, watching my Inclinations and Humour with that Care and Nicety, that they would be sure never to make my Lessons tedious or burthensome. But now I was to give some Proof of my Study, by translating some of our English Poets into their Language: I chose the Samson Agonistes of Milton to begin with, as finding his Way of Writing in that, more like their Tragedies than any other of our English Poets. They were so pleasd with this Performance, that it was shewd to the King, who was a Prince of an admirable Genius himself, and ordered me, upon it, to be admitted into the Number of the Athenian Poets, with a handsome Pension for my Maintenance; and Directions were given for the transcribing and acting the Tragedy of Samson Agonistes, as soon as the Choruss could be set to Musick
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剑桥政治思想史选编了许多被政治思想史研究者所忽略的文本。本书就是其中之一,选编了一批英国启蒙运动尤其是苏格兰启蒙运动中的乌托邦思想文本。实际上,乌托邦思想在世界各国都有,而它们的实际影响各异,这的确值得仔细研究。本书是英文原版影印。