The Fall of the Fall in Early Modern Political Theory

In this essay I offer a contribution to a political genealogy of secularization through the fading of the Fall in early modern political theory. I begin by giving a brief overview of the importance of the Fall in pre-modern Christian political thought. I then examine the fate of the Fall in early mo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Political theology
Main Author: Cavanaugh, William T. 1962- (Author)
Format: Electronic/Print Article
Language:English
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Published: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group [2017]
In: Political theology
Year: 2017, Volume: 18, Issue: 6, Pages: 475-494
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Augustinus, Aurelius, Saint 354-430 / Hobbes, Thomas 1588-1679 / Locke, John 1632-1704 / Filmer, Robert 1588-1653 / Fall of Man / Original sin
RelBib Classification:KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity
KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history
NBE Anthropology
VA Philosophy
Further subjects:B Hobbes
B Political Theory
B Locke
B Falling
B Original Sin
Online Access: Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:In this essay I offer a contribution to a political genealogy of secularization through the fading of the Fall in early modern political theory. I begin by giving a brief overview of the importance of the Fall in pre-modern Christian political thought. I then examine the fate of the Fall in early modern thought, briefly discussing Niccolò Machiavelli and Francisco de Vitoria, but concentrating on the English tradition most influential on our context, namely Thomas Hobbes, Robert Filmer, and John Locke. I show how and why the Fall is replaced by the “state of nature” as pre-historical justification of political power. I conclude with some comments on what is lost when Western society no longer uses the Fall to mark the difference between the way things are and the way things are meant to be.
Item Description:Das Heft ist als Doppelheft erschienen: "Volume 18 Numbers 5-6 August-September 2017"
ISSN:1462-317X
Contains:Enthalten in: Political theology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/1462317X.2016.1214026