Philosophy Course: Republican History, Concepts and the Future

Philosophy. Study the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence.

Join us as we explore the present interest in republicanism throughout constitutional monarchies such as Australia, renewed with the death of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Republicanism has a long philosophical history, and we will draw on that history in the course. In political theory and philosophy, the term ‘republicanism’ is generally used in three different senses. In the first sense, republicanism refers to a loose tradition or family of writers in the history of western political thought, including Machiavelli, the English republicans Milton, Harrington, Sidney, and Americans such as Jefferson, Madison, and Adams. The second sense of the term ‘republicanism’ in contemporary political theory and philosophy is associated especially with the work of Quentin Skinner, and more recently Philip Pettit. This ‘Civic Republicanism’ is dedicated to developing insights from the tradition, but applicable to the many challenges of modern globalisation and new forms of economics. Frank Lovett’s book The Well-Ordered Republic (2022), is a good example, as Lovett argues for an unconditional basic income for all. The third sense, associated with the modern pragmatist movement, sees its aim as developing a “science of rational government”.

Another aspect of the course will be the movement from British colonialism to the many forms of post-colonialism, across the former empire. Much blood and ink has been spilt in this history. We will assess the arguments given by historians, constitutional lawyers and philosophers on the pros and cons of Republicanism as one of the ways of being ‘postcolonial’.

Outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• identify the main features that constitute a republic
• discuss the origins and complexities of the many forms of republicanism in history
• discuss the philosophical ideas of Plato, Cicero, Machiavelli, and the American constitutionalists on the merits of republicanism
• identify the different kinds of republicanism, as discussed by 20 and 21st century philosophers
• discuss the implications of republicanism for many contemporary issues
• discuss the complex nature of the contemporary political situation and the possibility of change
• understand of the interrelation between republicanism, democracy and capitalism.

Content

Philosophical analysis of concepts

Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organised without a monarchy. Historically, it ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. It has had different definitions and interpretations which vary significantly based on historical context and methodological approach. Some other definitional terms to be discussed in our opening session will be: ‘the people’; ‘domination’; ‘freedom’; ‘tyranny’.

Republicans from Plato to John Adams

We will begin this section with a discussion of the key elements which constitute the idea of republicanism as it’s developed through history. The founding text will be Plato’s Republic, which has important insights we can learn from. The Roman republics will be discussed next. It is perhaps not too great an exaggeration to say that Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.E.) was the most influential republican thinker of the Roman ancient world. Cicero understood the inherent tension within republicanism between populism and elitism, issues which are still important to contemporary political debate. His teachings endorse two distinguishable and potentially competing theoretical defences of republican government: one highlighting rhetoric, the other focusing on the faculty of reason.

The Italian Renaissance brought with it a revival of the republican debate. Niccolò Machiavelli, in the Discourses, provides a psychological case that the reality of the human character tends to favor a republic over a principality, since the former “is better able to adapt itself to diverse circumstances than a prince owing to the diversity found among its citizens” (Discourses CW 253).

English and then American Republicanism will be discussed. Some of the most important texts on republicanism come from the American Constitutionalists such as Jefferson, Madison, and Adams. The second president of the United States John Adams stated in the introduction to his famous A Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America (1794), the "science of politics is the science of social happiness" and “a republic is the form of government arrived at when the science of politics is appropriately applied to the creation of a rationally designed government”.

Contemporary civic republicanism: Quentin Skinner and Philip Pettit

We will begin with an analysis of these two key thinkers. However, in many respects, civic republicanism remains a still underdeveloped political doctrine. Further work is required in many areas which are central to the concerns of contemporary political theorists and philosophers. Among the latter, there are now at least initial treatments of multiculturalism (Laborde 2008; Lovett 2010; Honohan 2013; Bachvarova 2014), education policy (Peterson 2011; Hinchliffe 2014; Macleod 2015), and intergenerational justice (Beckman 2016; Katz 2017; Pinto 2019). Although substantial work certainly remains to be done. Nevertheless, civic republicanism is a dynamic and growing field, evidence by Frank Lovett’s book The Well-Ordered Republic (2022).

Colonialism to post colonialism

At her accession in 1952, Elizabeth was the monarch and head of state of seven independent states: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon. Since then, new realms have been created through the independence of former colonies and dependencies, and some realms have become republics. Barbados is the most recent realm to become a republic; it did so in 2021. We will examine this history. The final section will introduce Indigenous critiques of settler-colonialism that emerge both as a response to colonial practices of domination and dispossession of land, customs and traditional history and to post-colonial theories of universalism.

Contemporary challenges

Perhaps one of the greatest challenges to contemporary civic republican theory is the problem of global migration, and the issue of international freedom of movement. Republicans are traditionally committed to a strong conception of citizenship; the republican ideal of political liberty has often seemed inseparable from the existence of bounded communities of fellow free citizens. The question arises: is this theory in conflict with an advocacy for stateless persons, refugees, and resident non-citizens who, in various ways, are clearly vulnerable to domination. Another issue for civic republicans, which has recently begun to be explored is the implications of republican freedom for global economic justice. Supposing the ideal is suitably universalised, and thus every human being’s non-domination counts the same, are republicans committed to cosmopolitan policies of global redistribution?

Intended audience

Anyone with a general interest in the course themes.

Prerequisites

None

Delivery style

Lecture/seminar

Materials

Course notes are distributed electronically

Reference list

• Arendt, Hannah, 1958. The Human Condition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• –––, 1963. On Revolution, New York: Viking Press.
• Bachvarova, Mira, 2013. “Non-domination’s Role in Theorizing Global Justice.” Journal of Global Ethics, 9: 173–85.
• Brennan, Geoffrey, and Philip Pettit, 2003. The Economy of Esteem, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Gädeke, Dorothea, 2020. “Does a Mugger Dominate? Episodic Power and the Structural Dimension of Domination,” Journal of Political Philosophy, 28: 199–221.
• Ingham, Sean, 2019. Rule by Multiple Majorities: A New Theory of Popular Control, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Lovett, Frank, 2022. The Well-Ordered Republic, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• McCormick, John P., 2003. “Machiavelli Against Republicanism: On the Cambridge School’s ‘Guicciardinian Moments’,” Political Theory, 31: 615–43.
• Pettit, Philip, 1989. “The Freedom of the City: A Republican Ideal,” in The Good Polity, Alan Hamlin and Philip Pettit (eds.), Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
• –––, 1997. Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and Government, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Phillips, Anne, 2000. “Feminism and Republicanism: Is this a Plausible Alliance?” Journal of political philosophy, 8: 279–93.
• Pinto, Jorge, 2019. “Freedom and Ecological Limits,” Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 24(5): 676–692.
• Pocock, J. G. A., 1975. The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• –––, 1981. “Virtues, Rights, and Manners: A Model for Historians of Political Thought,” Political Theory, 9: 353–68.
• Priestly, Joseph, [1769] 1993. “The Present State of Liberty,” in Political Writings, N.P. Miller (ed.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Skinner, Quentin, 1983. “Machiavelli on the Maintenance of Liberty,” Politics, 18: 3–15.
• –––, 2008. “Freedom as the Absence of Arbitrary Power,” in Republicanism and Political Theory, Cécile Laborde and John Maynor (eds.), Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
• Taylor, Robert S. 2017. Exit Left: Markets and Mobility in Republican Thought, Oxford: Oxford University Press.