Political Philosophy in Gulliver’s Travels

Political Philosophy in Gulliver’s Travels PDF Author: Lloyd W. Robertson
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030988538
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 223

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Book Description
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 and in 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.

Political Philosophy in Gulliver’s Travels

Political Philosophy in Gulliver’s Travels PDF Author: Lloyd W. Robertson
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030988538
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 223

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Book Description
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 and in 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.

Philosophy Between the Lines

Philosophy Between the Lines PDF Author: Arthur M. Melzer
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022617509X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 472

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Book Description
"Philosophical esotericism--the practice of communicating one's unorthodox thoughts 'between the lines'--was a common practice until the end of the eighteenth century. The famous Encyclopédie of Diderot, for instance, not only discusses this practice in over twenty different articles, but admits to employing it itself. The history of Western thought contains hundreds of such statements by major philosophers testifying to the use of esoteric writing in their own work or others'. Despite this long and well-documented history, however, esotericism is often dismissed today as a rare occurrence. But by ignoring esotericism, we risk cutting ourselves off from a full understanding of Western philosophical thought ... Philosophy Between the Lines is the first comprehensive, book-length study of the history and theoretical basis of philosophical esotericism, and it provides a crucial guide to how many major writings--philosophical, but also theological, political, and literary--were composed prior to the nineteenth century."--Publisher's Web site.

Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver's Travels PDF Author: Jonathan Swift
Publisher: Echo Library
ISBN: 9781603037228
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Politics vs. Literature

Politics vs. Literature PDF Author: George Orwell
Publisher: Renard Press Ltd
ISBN: 1913724336
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 30

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Book Description
George Orwell set out ‘to make political writing into an art’, and to a wide extent this aim shaped the future of English literature – his descriptions of authoritarian regimes helped to form a new vocabulary that is fundamental to understanding totalitarianism. While 1984 and Animal Farm are amongst the most popular classic novels in the English language, this new series of Orwell’s essays seeks to bring a wider selection of his writing on politics and literature to a new readership. Politics vs. Literature, the fourth in the Orwell’s Essays series, is, at heart, a review of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. Having been given a copy of the book on his eighth birthday, Orwell knows it inside out, and thinks highly of it; it is ‘pessimistic’, though, he says – ‘it descends into political partisanship of a narrow kind,’ designed to ‘humiliate man by reminding him that he is weak and ridiculous.’ Using the book as an example of enjoying a book whose author one cannot stand, Orwell goes on to say that he considers Gulliver’s Travels a work of art, leaving the reader to reconsider the books on their own shelves. 'A writer who can – and must – be rediscovered with every age.' — Irish Times

Perspectives on Gulliver’s Travels

Perspectives on Gulliver’s Travels PDF Author: K. M. Jan
Publisher: Atlantic Publishers & Dist
ISBN: 9788126903450
Category : Political satire, English
Languages : en
Pages : 152

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Book Description
Perspectives On Gulliver S Travels Is Meant To Be A Useful Guide For Students As Well As Teachers. It Embraces The Entire Spectrum Of The Various Aspects Of Jonathan Swift S Gulliver S Travels. It Deals With The Life And Works Of The Author, The Philosophical Background, Satire, Irony, Misanthropy, Misogyny, Structure, Prose Style As Well As The Chapter-Wise Summary Of The Book With Comments.

Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver's Travels PDF Author: Ronald Knowles
Publisher: Macmillan Reference USA
ISBN:
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
An accessible introduction to some of the most important ideas developed in Plato's Symposium.

A voyage to Brobdingnag

A voyage to Brobdingnag PDF Author: Jonathan Swift
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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The Politics of Gulliver's Travels

The Politics of Gulliver's Travels PDF Author: F. P. Lock
Publisher: Oxford : Clarendon Press ; New York : Oxford University Press
ISBN:
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver's Travels PDF Author: Jonathan Swift
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781582791814
Category : Satire
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Gulliver's Travels in Lilliput and Brobdingnag

Gulliver's Travels in Lilliput and Brobdingnag PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description