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This thesis explores the relation between the normative structures brought to bear on the evaluation of life and the way in which the coming-into-being of living organisms is fundamentally understood. It provides a new analysis and critique of the standard concept of ‘flourishing’ in neo-Aristotelian meta-ethics, by uncovering the underlying interpretation of organismic becoming on which it relies, and showing how the turn to a ‘constructivist’ conception of development in contemporary biological theory both disrupts this underlying metaphysics, and provides resources for re-thinking flourishing on a fundamentally different basis. The central claim is that we should turn from a view in which life is given a form to fulfil, and becoming is the process of its fulfilment, to one in which living is the process of creating a way in the world, as life goes along.

This study examines the foreign policy views of the Canadian thinker, George Grant. It focuses on the years between Mackenzie King’s re-election in 1935 and the Liberal party’s return to power under Lester Pearson in 1963. During this period, Grant argued, Canada was transformed from a British dependent to a satellite of the United States, a process that he believed had been accelerated by the continentalist economic and security policies of successive Liberal governments. As a young man during World War II, Grant admired the United States of F. D. Roosevelt. But as he began to contemplate the threat that a postwar Pax Americana posed to the societies of the Old World, and, ultimately, to Canada, his misgivings grew. His attempts to understand the emerging order led him to a critical study of modern liberalism, which he believed provided the chief philosophical justification for America’s expansion. Unlike Marxists who saw liberalism as simply an ideology of individual greed, Grant claimed that it succeeded largely by appealing to our hopes for social progress. These hopes found their loftiest expression in the belief that liberalism’s internationalization would produce the conditions for the overcoming of war within and between nations. Grant feared that this ideal could only be achieved through the annihilation of all real cultural diversity—the realization of what he called the universal and homogeneous state. One of his unique claims was that the Liberal policy of rapprochement with the United States after 1935 signaled the growing dominance of this ideal within Canada. This dominance was fed during the Cold War by “realists” like Pearson who decried the utopianism of communism, while failing to reckon with the utopian aspirations of his own society. Fearful of Marxist one-worldism, Pearson committed himself to a single-minded defence of a liberal order that tended to produce even greater homogeneity around the world. Grant’s own practical aim in writing about foreign policy, I argue, was neither to defend liberalism against its “utopian” critics, nor to reject it for an alternative like Marxism, but to highlight the utopian aspirations of liberal society, and thereby subject it to the moderating influence of doubt.

This study examines the foreign policy views of the Canadian thinker, George Grant. It focuses on the years between Mackenzie King’s re-election in 1935 and the Liberal party’s return to power under Lester Pearson in 1963. During this period, Grant argued, Canada was transformed from a British dependent to a satellite of the United States, a process that he believed had been accelerated by the continentalist economic and security policies of successive Liberal governments. As a young man during World War II, Grant admired the United States of F. D. Roosevelt. But as he began to contemplate the threat that a postwar Pax Americana posed to the societies of the Old World, and, ultimately, to Canada, his misgivings grew. His attempts to understand the emerging order led him to a critical study of modern liberalism, which he believed provided the chief philosophical justification for America’s expansion. Unlike Marxists who saw liberalism as simply an ideology of individual greed, Grant claimed that it succeeded largely by appealing to our hopes for social progress. These hopes found their loftiest expression in the belief that liberalism’s internationalization would produce the conditions for the overcoming of war within and between nations. Grant feared that this ideal could only be achieved through the annihilation of all real cultural diversity—the realization of what he called the universal and homogeneous state. One of his unique claims was that the Liberal policy of rapprochement with the United States after 1935 signaled the growing dominance of this ideal within Canada. This dominance was fed during the Cold War by “realists” like Pearson who decried the utopianism of communism, while failing to reckon with the utopian aspirations of his own society. Fearful of Marxist one-worldism, Pearson committed himself to a single-minded defence of a liberal order that tended to produce even greater homogeneity around the world. Grant’s own practical aim in writing about foreign policy, I argue, was neither to defend liberalism against its “utopian” critics, nor to reject it for an alternative like Marxism, but to highlight the utopian aspirations of liberal society, and thereby subject it to the moderating influence of doubt.

This thesis explores the nature of ambivalence in Maori political thought as expressed during John Ballance's tour of seven Maori districts in 1885. A microhistorical study of Maori speeches recorded during the tour, undertaken by Ballance as minister of Native Affairs, reveals three overlapping points regarding Maori political thought in the late nineteenth century. Firstly, despite a lack of power in processes of government and the effects of numerous land laws, Maori remained optimistic at the possibility of gaining equality, an optimism generated by the very act of Ballance's visit to Maori communities. Secondly, optimism was grounded in a pragmatic approach to state power, one that acknowledged the realities of the colonial government's positionin the New Zealand political system. Thirdly, a strongly held desire for equality, in combination with a pragmatic approach to state power, explains why Maori continued to seek solutions through the colonial government in the late nineteenth century. These three implicit positions can be seen in the greetings, criticisms and requests made by Maori leaders during the twelve hui that constituted Ballance's tour. In combination, these points suggest an ambivalence in the conceptual bases of Maori political thought in the late nineteenth century. This argument challenges existing interpretations of late nineteenth century Maori political activity, particularly the idea that Maori increasingly sought 'autonomy' in their own sphere. By adopting the approach of the microhistorian, this thesis opens a brief and unique window onto a period between the New Zealand wars and the resurgent protest movements of the 1890s, one that historians have yet to capture.

The Chartist movement was the mass-movement for constitutional reform in mid-nineteenth-century Britain. Chartism is one of the most written about subjects in modern British history, yet the ideas of the movement remain strangely neglected. This thesis tackles this problem by examining Chartist ideas along a broad front. By examining the political thought of a movement, rather than a select number of highly educated intellectuals, this thesis also makes a statement about how to study popular political ideas. Chapter One locates the foundations of Chartist political thought in the movement’s social and cultural context. It asks what the Chartists read and were able to read, how they viewed knowledge and education, and the religious basis of Chartist intellectualism. Chapter Two turns to Chartist political theory, in particular, the Chartist interpretation of the British constitution. It is shown that Chartists drew on a sophisticated conception of the common law that rooted the British Constitution in natural law. Chapter Three considers Chartism’s economic ideas, which, it is argued, must be understood in relation to their understanding of classical political economy. Chapter Four examiners Chartist natural-right arguments alongside the ideas of non-Chartist radicals. Finally, Chapter Five traces the careers of a number of Chartists and the influence of Chartist ideas in America. It also attempts to take account of what Chartism meant to Americans. By considering these topics, this thesis provides a clearer impression of why ideas were important to the Chartists, what sort of ideas the Chartists held, and the legacies of Chartist ideas for democratic politics later in the century.

James Madison wrote four accounts of faction, the most public and famous of which was Federalist 10. By examining all four accounts, I undertake to develop a more capacious understanding of the design and purpose of Madison’s vision for American constitutional politics than can be extracted from an examination of Federalist 10 alone. I attempt to collate the unique insights of each account of faction into a coherent unity, with special attention to Madison’s rhetoric. I conclude that the three least famous accounts of faction, correctly read, perfect and extend the account in Federalist 10 by offering a more candid window into Madison’s thought on human beings and the political life for which he thought them fit. / text

La thèse porte sur l’édition et l’étude de la tradition manuscrite des trois rédactions (dont deux inédites) de la vulgarisation du De doctrina dicendi et tacendi (1245) par Albertano da Brescia. L’œuvre du Juge lombard est un traité rhétorique et moral qui a connu un immédiat succès de public au Moyen Âge, à la fois en Italie et en Europe, comme le prouvent ses nombreuses traductions dans plusieurs langues romanes. Parmi elles, la vulgarisation la plus ancienne que nous connaissons est celle attribuée à Andrea da Grosseto, qui traduisit les traités moraux d’Albertano en 1268, en France ; son travail fut suivi par celui du notaire de Pistoia Soffredi del Grazia. Parmi les autres traductions, nous rappelons également une version florentine (fin du XIIIe siècle), une pisane (1288), et trois rédactions vulgaires anonymes, jusqu’à aujourd’hui inconnues, dont ce projet vise à publier les textes. Auparavant, le cadre de la tradition manuscrite de la vulgarisation du Liber de doctrina dicendi et tacendi était peu clair. Comme l’avaient déjà souligné Segre et Marti dans le 1959, les études concernant les relations entre les diverses vulgarisations italiennes de l’œuvre d’Albertano étaient insuffisantes. La situation était encore inchangée au moment de la publication du dernier recensement, celui de Giulio Vaccaro, en 2011, qui comptait 46 manuscrits de vulgarisation. En particulier, l’absence d’une distinction entre les différentes rédactions et, notamment, d’une édition des rédactions anonymes fondée sur des critères scientifiques a longtemps empêché la comparaison avec les autres versions italiennes et européennes. La première partie de ce travail vise à encadrer les versions italiennes du traité dans leur contexte et à les commenter du point de vue culturel, littéraire et linguistique. Dans cette introduction aux textes, on a essayé de réunir les résultats de l’enquête à propos de la fortune européenne du livre d’Albertano, mise en rapport avec les vulgarisations du latin au français de traités rhétoriques et moraux. La comparaison a concerné aussi la traduction du traité faite par Brunetto Latini. La collation entre la version française du Liber de doctrina dicendi et tacendi comprise dans le Tresor et les vulgarisations toscanes a mis en relief des fautes et des innovations communes, qui laissent supposer l’existence d’une parenté. Du point de vue de l’héritage littéraire, on examinera les thèmes du silence et de la consolatio considérés comme des possibles remèdes pour guérir le conflit intérieur, à partir du traité albertanien jusqu’à Pétrarque. Sous l’aspect linguistique, on mettra en évidence l’apport indispensable des vulgarisations du Liber à la fondation de la prose italienne des origines, comparable à celle des trois Canzonieri qui marquent le début de la tradition poétique vulgaire. La deuxième partie de cette thèse est dédiée à l’étude de la tradition manuscrite de la vulgarisation du traité, qui a permis d’enrichir le recensement du 2011 avec trois nouveaux manuscrits et de reconstruire les relations stemmatiques parmi ses témoins. L’examen des textes a permis d’éclaircir des zones d’ombre qui concernent les rapports parmi les rédactions vulgaires et d’individuer au moins trois différentes versions anonymes : la « Vulgate », une version « abrégée », transmise par vingt-neuf manuscrits, qui privilège le message moral et gnomique au détriment de son contenu rhétorique ; l’ « Intégrale », une version complète et plus fidèle au texte latin, dont cinq manuscrits sont témoins ; la « Composite », remaniement transmis par cinq témoins, apparemment plus tard. Pour chaque version, on a tracé un stemma codicum et publié un texte représentatif, afin d’effectuer une analyse linguistique nécessaire à établir les rapports qui lient ces versions et leur origine. / This thesis deals with the study of the manuscript tradition of three anonymous Italian versions (including two unpublished) of the vulgarisation of the De doctrina dicendi et tacendi (1245) by Albertanus of Brescia and aims to publish the critical edition of these versions. The work of the Lombard Judge is a rhetorical and moral treatise that has enjoyed immediate success and diffusion in the Middle Ages, both in Italy and in Europe, as it can be proved by its many translations into several Romance languages. Among them, the first vulgarisation that we know is the one attributed to Andrea da Grosseto, who translated the moral treatises of Albertanus in 1260, in France; his work was followed by that of the notary of Pistoia Soffredi del Grazia. Among other translations, we also recall one Florentine version (late Thirteenth century), one pisane (1288), and three anonymous vulgar versions, two of which published here for the first time. Previously, the framework of the manuscript tradition of the Liber de doctrina dicendi et tacendi was very nebulous. As already pointed out by Segre and Marti in 1959, studies concerning the relations among the various Italian vulgarisations of Albertanus’s work were insufficient. This situation did not change with the publication of the last census, that of Giulio Vaccaro, in 2011, which counted 46 manuscripts. In particular, the absence of a distinction between the different Italian versions and, especially, of an edition of the anonymous ones, based on scientific criteria, has long prevented comparisons with other Italian and European versions. The first part of this work aims to frame the Italian versions of the treatise in their context and to comment on them from the cultural, literary and linguistic point of view. In this introduction to the texts, an attempt has been made to bring together the results of the inquiry into the European heritage of Albertanus’ book, related to the popularisation of Latin and French rhetorical and moral treatises. The comparison also concerned the translation of the treatise by Brunetto Latini. The collation between the French version of the Liber included in the Tresor and the Tuscan vulgarisations highlighted common errors and innovations, which suggest the existence of a relation. From the point of view of the literary heritage, this work will examine the themes of silence and consolatio considered as possible remedies to heal the inner conflict, from Albertanus’ treatise to Petrarch’s works. From a linguistic point of view, the indispensable contribution of the vulgarisations of the Liber to the founding of the Italian prose, comparable to that of the three Canzonieri, which marked the beginning of the vulgar poetic tradition, will be highlighted. The second part of this thesis is devoted to the study of the manuscript tradition of the vulgarisation of the treatise, which allowed to enrich the 2011 census with three new manuscripts and to reconstruct the stemmatic relations among its witnesses. The examination of the texts has led to clarify areas of shadow concerning the relations among the vulgar translations and to identify at least three different anonymous versions: the «Vulgate», a shortened version, transmitted by twenty-nine manuscripts, which privileges the moral and gnomic message to the detriment of its rhetorical content; the «Integral», a complete version more similar to the Latin text, testified by five manuscripts; the «Composite», apparently subsequent to the previous ones, also transmitted by five witnesses. For each version, a stemma codicum was drawn and a representative text was published, in order to carry out a linguistic analysis necessary to establish the relations which connect these versions and their origin.

This dissertation examines Scottish unionist political thought and intellectual history in the period from 1885-1886 to 1965. It provides an analytical examination of unionist positions examining such areas as political history, ecclesiology, sectarianism, historiography and unionist-nationalist sentiment. It contextualises unionist thought within Scotland's history and offers findings based on both archival and primary sources research along with a thorough background of historiography. It both contextualises and examines the complexities of Scottish unionism during this vital period between the Liberal Party's split over Irish Home Rule until the reorganisation of the Scottish Unionist Party in 1965. It illuminates the spectrum of unionist discourse during this period and demonstrates the complexities of Scotland's constitutional and cultural relationship with the rest of the United Kingdom.

This research is to discuss the Chinese pre-Qin legalist school, Shang Yang's political thought. First, the purposes of the research are as follows: 1.To understand the background of Shang Yang¡¦s political thought and analyze the foundation of his political thought. 2.To discover the principles of Shang Yang¡¦s political thought. 3.From the principles of Shang Yang¡¦s political thought, analyze his political objectives. 4.To analyze Shang Yang¡¦s actual policies of agriculture and fight. 5.To sum up this research results to comment on Shang Yang's political thought. Therefore, based on the purposes of the research, the principles of Shang Yang¡¦s political thought is rule by law, attempt to achieve the powerful nation. The concrete method is the policies of the agriculture and fight. So, the following are the results of the analysis of this research: 1.Shang Yang advocates ¡¥rule by law.¡¦ 2.Shang Yang promotes anti-wisdom. 3.Shang Yang advocates despotism. 4.Shang Yang contends that clear reward and hard punishment can make the monarch rule smoothly. 5.Shang Yang proposes that the monarch rules by the system, rather than by man.