Evolution of Political Authority in Western Thought

In this seminar Dr Simon Kennedy addresses the prehistory of ideas of the social contract. After sketching a genealogy running through Plato, Aritsotle, Cicero and the Hebrew Bible, he reflects on the extent to which Hobbes's and Locke's social contract accounts are continuing, or breaking with, the natural law tradition. The seminar is followed by a time of questions and discussion.

A video version of the seminar is available at https://youtu.be/evM_m4ZNFgQ

The seminar took place over Zoom on 6 August 2024, and was hosted by Christopher Watkin (Monash University), as part of the Australian Research Council funded Future Fellowship project "Rewriting the Social Contract: Technology, Ecology, Extremism". This seminar is an initiative of the Social Contract Research Network. To find out more about the SCRN, and to subscribe to email updates, please visit https://www.monash.edu/arts/languages-literatures-cultures-linguistics/social-contract-research-network

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