Overview
- Emphasizes the importance of some of the major themes of political philosophy such as ever-present political struggles
- Demonstrates that his writings show a preference for radical thought
- Departs from previous analysis of Gulliver's Travels by focusing on Swift's exploration
Part of the book series: Recovering Political Philosophy (REPOPH)
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Table of contents (8 chapters)
Keywords
About this book
This book analyzes Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels from a political philosophy perspective. When authors have focused on politics in Swift’s writings, this has usually meant a study of how Swift located himself on issues of his day such as church and state, and Ireland. Robertson claims by contrast that Gulliver’s Travels is fundamentally a book about the “ancients” (e.g. Plato, Aristotle), and the “moderns” (science and technology), and their contrasting views about the human condition. The claim that the Travels is “a kind of prolegomena” to political philosophy leaves open the possibility that it does not achieve, or seek to achieve, a fusion of various teachings but rather uses the device of alien societies to point us to uncomfortable aspects of political philosophy’s “larger questions” we are prone to ignore. Swift, Robertson argues, draws our attention to some version of the classical republic, as idealized in Aristotle’s political writings andin Plato’s Republic, as opposed to a modern regime which, at its best or most intellectual, emphasizes modern science and technology in combination as a way to improve the human condition.
Reviews
“For the reader familiar with Swift's marvelous tale of Gulliver's fantastical voyages, Dr. Robertson illuminates a whole new dimension to this great book. Once glimpsed from this perspective, the reader discovers that Swift is providing us with a kind of roadmap we can use to our own liberal education. Drawing upon a great reservoir of learning from his study of political philosophy, Robertson guides us to a deeper understanding of Swift's intention in writing his tale. We learn how Swift the philosophical poet critically assesses the political and philosophical positions of the Ancients and the Moderns. We thus discover the permanent questions that characterize human life and define our contemporary dilemma. What constitutes knowledge? To what end ought we to use the power of modern science? What value should we place on human life? These are the kinds of profound questions explored by Swift, which we can investigate with Robertson as our skillful guide.” (Patrick Malcolmson, Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science, St. Thomas University, Canada)
“Robertson has made a great advance in the study of Jonathan Swift from within a political philosophy perspective. This is a much needed re-discovery of a Swift who is young and beautiful. We can all gain a new appreciation of Swift's greatness as a thinker in addition to a literary giant and, of course, a satirist with the most wicked wit the world has ever seen. This book will undoubtedly prove itself indispensable for all those harboring an interest in the Dean of St. Patrick's life and work. With the appearance of this book a bright new page in Swift Studies has been turned.” (Colin D. Pearce, Lyceum Professor, Lyceum Program, Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism, USA)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Lloyd W. Robertson is a former lecturer in political science at St. Thomas University in Canada, among other post-secondary institutions.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Political Philosophy in Gulliver’s Travels
Book Subtitle: Shocked by The Just Society
Authors: Lloyd W. Robertson
Series Title: Recovering Political Philosophy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98853-1
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-98852-4Published: 02 July 2022
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-98855-5Published: 03 July 2023
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-98853-1Published: 01 July 2022
Series ISSN: 2524-7166
Series E-ISSN: 2524-7174
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIV, 213
Topics: Political Theory, Political Philosophy, Literature, general, Eighteenth-Century Literature