Join BookitisSave favorites, build lists, and follow creators.

The new Leviathan; or, Man, society, civilisation and barbarism

Work detail

Bookitis Pick
Cover for The new Leviathan; or, Man, society, civilisation and barbarism
TN
Image source: Open Library
R. G. CollingwoodFirst published 19443 editions

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.

Overview

Shared work-level identity and catalog context.

First publish date 19441 credited authorSearch language english

Bookitis keeps work pages focused on the shared book identity and the editions that actually belong to it. Unrelated books should not appear here as primary content.

Contributors

People credited with this work in the active catalog.

  • R. G. Collingwood

    Author profile in the active Bookitis catalog

    Open Author

Editions

Publication-specific versions linked to this work only.