Commonwealth realm

D.J.C. Carmichael, Professor at the University of Alberta, explores Hobbes’ notion of natural rights in the commonwealth. While Carmichael acknowledges that most contemporary thinkers associate Hobbes with sovereign authoritarianism, he aims to demonstrate that the commonwealth actually permits the existence of “true liberties,” which belong to each individual citizen. More specifically, Carmichael presents a detailed analysis of chapter 21 of Hobbes’ Leviathan, which demonstrates the presence…

Virginia Held is a well-known philosopher who studies the ethics of care and the role women have historically played in philosophy and religion. Held takes the works of philosophers in the past that seem to favor a male-dominated public realm, and utilizes them to show how some of them may promote the interests of women. In her work Feminist Transformations of Moral Theory, Held critiques the presumed male biases in philosophy and prompts readers to read philosophy in a different light. She…

Trooping the Colour? “Trooping the Colour” ceremonies have been a tradition of the British forces from as early as the seventeenth century. This tradition, because of colonization and occupation, has been passed to several countries within the Commonwealth realm and those who have an historical relationship with Britain. These countries have either adopted the ceremony as it is in the UK or tweaked it to fit their national celebration needs. From the mid-eighteenth century to date, the ceremony…

day, with scholars like John Milton, John Lilburne, Gerrard Winstanley, and various Leveller and Radical pamphleteers strongly pushing for such legal reforms during the tumultuous Interregnum from 1642–1660 and the efforts to build a “biblical commonwealth” in England. Selden seemed to be sympathetic with at least some of these efforts. But, quite in contrast with his earlier strident efforts to protect the “natural rights and liberties of all Englishmen” which landed him in prison, he proceeded…

In John Locke’s Second Treatise and Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan, both authors introduce concepts of perfect societies built upon the initial state of nature for the purpose of ultimately escaping that state to enter a state of civility and peace. The state of nature is one governed by natural laws that each individual understands through their innate sense of reasoning. Hobbes condemns that state because he contends that in the state of nature, there is no property, which propagates fear and death…

result of the English Revolution under the direction of Oliver Cromwell, King Charles I was overthrown and the powerful republic regime that was suffocating the country’s economy was eradicated. Trade routes were established and the rise of the commonwealth began. This growth had a profound impact on artists, writers, musicians and architects of the period. Scientific discoveries challenged the resolve of the Catholic and Protestant Churches. Many philosophers of the time question religious…

He says in lines 50 and 51, “this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England…” Not only does John of Gaunt boast on the belief that England is a great land with great people, it would appear that he believes England is the best land. These words spoken by John of Gaunt bear importance to the faith within his words…

Adam maintains an unvarying commitment to a hierarchical structure which proves his subjectivity while belittling Eve (1). Langford stated that Milton’s God did more than create a delicate partner for Adam; and, instead Eve represented an alternative realm which, though officially in subjection to the masculine model of heaven, amain manifests its independence and difference…

realization of the kingdom of God. In effect, The City of God is a hypothesis of culmination of the project he started in ‘The Confession’; where he traced the advancement of the self toward completion in God. Likewise, human gild seeks completion in the realm of God. Along came a theology of history, Augustine looks to put together a Christian school of thought of society. In other words, he provided the various scenery of philosophical inquiry; however, ethics and government is a group in the…

Introduction Early Puritans established many small towns in the new frontier which came to be known as New England. In these new towns, small commonwealths, otherwise known as families, created the framework for everyday life. The basic structure of a Puritan family was patriarchal. This type of structure creates very defined gender roles in a society. All of the governmental, ideological, and social values of a society must mirror the structures of each other in order for the society to…