Joseph Priestley(1733-1804)was one of the great intellectual figures of the English Enlightenment and also one of its outstanding political theorists. His discussion of ‘ civil liberty‘s crucial to understanding the debates that swirled around the War of American Independence and the Dissenters‘ bid for wider religious toleration. His response to these events was informed by his central commitment to a natural right to ‘freedom of thought‘. Despite the fundamental importance of this concept in modern political thought priestley‘s role in its articulation haeen ill-served by the absence of a modern edition of those works in which the argument was forged. This new collection will be the first to make accessible to students Priestley‘s Essay on the First Principles of Government and The Present State of Liberty in Great Britain and America, which reflect his most concentrated engagement with these issues at a crucial moment in his own life and that of the state. An introduction and notes, together with guides to further reading and key figures in the text, provide the student with all the material necessary for approaching Priestley.
【目录】
Achnowledgements Introduction Chronology of Joseph Priestley s life Biographical guide Essay on the first Principles The Present State of Liberty Index
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