The Opinion of Mankind: Sociability and the Theory of the State from Hobbes to Smith Hardcover - 2018

From the rear cover

"The Opinion of Mankind is an ambitious, incisive contribution to political theory. In rehabilitating David Hume and Adam Smith as pivotal figures in the canon of Western political philosophy, the book shows how their writings raise fundamental questions about social cooperation and political subjection. The result is a historically rich and philosophically subtle exploration of eighteenth-century moral and political thought that will change how we interpret the role of sociability and government in the period. While crafting boldly original exegesis, Sagar at the same time asks us to ponder more deeply the relationship between past thinkers and contemporary political theory."--Richard Bourke, author of Empire and Revolution

"This ambitious book takes seriously Hume's claim that government is founded on opinion, and it works out the implications of that claim by bringing Hume into philosophical conversation with his seventeenth-century predecessors and eighteenth-century contemporaries. This is one of the most careful accounts of the sociability debate of the early Enlightenment."--Iain McDaniel, University of Sussex

"Tracing debates about sociability and the state from Thomas Hobbes to Adam Smith, this impressive book overturns many prominent accounts of the development of modern political thought. While principally a historical study, The Opinion of Mankind has clear and important implications for how we think about the scope and purpose of political theory today."--Robin Douglass, King's College London

Media reviews

Citations

• Choice, 08/01/2018, Page 0