The new Leviathan, or, Man, society, civilization, and barbarism

Rev. ed. / edited and introduced by David Boucher.
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Last edited by MARC Bot
December 24, 2025 | History

The new Leviathan, or, Man, society, civilization, and barbarism

Rev. ed. / edited and introduced by David Boucher.

The New Leviathan, originally published in 1942, a few months before the author's death, is the book which R.G. Collingwood chose to write in preference to completing his life's work on the philosophy of history. It was occasioned by the Second World War and the threat which Nazism and Fascism constituted to civilization. The book draws upon many years of work in moral and political philosophy and attempts to establish the multiple and complex connections between the levels of consciousness, society, civilization, and barbarism. Collingwood argues that traditional social contract theory has failed to account for the continuing existence of the non-social community and its relation to the social community in the body politic. He is also critical of the tendency within ethics to confound right and duty. The publication of additional manuscript material in this revised edition demonstrates in more detail how Collingwood was determined to show that right and duty occupy different levels of rational practical consciousness. The additional material also contains Collingwood's unequivocal rejection of relativism. David Boucher's introduction shows that The New Leviathan and The Idea of History are integrally related and that neither can be properly understood independently of the other. He is also concerned to show how many of Collingwood's ideas have a contemporary relevance, and that his ideas on barbarism are not so unusual as they might at first appear.

Publish Date
Language
English
Pages
525

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Cover of: The new Leviathan, or, Man, society, civilization, and barbarism
The new Leviathan, or, Man, society, civilization, and barbarism
1992, Clarendon Press, Oxford University Press
in English - Rev. ed. / edited and introduced by David Boucher.
Cover of: The new Leviathan

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Book Details


Edition Notes

Includes bibliographical references and index.
"With 'Goodness, rightness, utility' and 'What civilization means.'"

Published in
Oxford, New York
Other Titles
New Leviathan., Man, society, civilization, and barbarism.

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
306.2
Library of Congress
JC257 .C6 1992, JC257.C6 1992

The Physical Object

Pagination
lxi, 525 p. ;
Number of pages
525

Edition Identifiers

Open Library
OL1715423M
ISBN 10
0198239815
LCCN
92017771
OCLC/WorldCat
25915507
LibraryThing
98148
Goodreads
1159642

Work Identifiers

Work ID
OL506632W

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