The political thought of John Brown : religion, reform and international relations
John Brown (1715-1766) has been portrayed by historians for generations as the archetypal Jeremiah. Depressed about the state of his country, he predicted the collapse of Britain in foreign war or by national bankruptcy. The main negative argument of the An Estimate of the Manners and the Principles of the Times (1757) was that effeminacy and luxury sprang from vast wealth and trade and would soon ruin the nation. In this thesis I contend that this idea does not capture the essence of Brown. John Brownâs fascinated contemporaries not only because it was a cynical attack on contemporary commercial society. Actually, the Estimate is worthy of attention because Brown was a reformer of a particular kind. The central argument of this thesis is that in order to explore the Estimate as more than a political worry, as in fact a complicated and positive reform strategy, great attention needs to be paid to his politics and philosophy. None of the studies on Brown have taken his politics sufficiently seriously as a contribution to the reform philosophies of his time. This thesis is the first detailed study of the Estimate, its origins, arguments, reception and defence. The analysis of the Estimate can cast more light
YiÄit, Pervin
JC171 By period. 18th century. General works
The political thought of John Brown : religion, reform and international relations. John Brown (1715-1766) has been portrayed by historians for generations as the archetypal Jeremiah. Depressed about the state of his country, he predicted the collapse of Britain in foreign war or by national bankruptcy. The main negative argument of the An Estimate of the Manners and the Principles of the Times (1757) was that effeminacy and luxury sprang from vast wealth and trade and would soon ruin the nation. In this thesis I contend that this idea does not capture the essence of Brown. John Brownâs fascinated contemporaries not only because it was a cynical attack on contemporary commercial society. Actually, the Estimate is worthy of attention because Brown was a reformer of a particular kind. The central argument of this thesis is that in order to explore the Estimate as more than a political worry, as in fact a complicated and positive reform strategy, great attention needs to be paid to his politics and philosophy. None of the studies on Brown have taken his politics sufficiently seriously as a contribution to the reform philosophies of his time. This thesis is the first detailed study of the Estimate, its origins, arguments, reception and defence. The analysis of the Estimate can cast more light
political think john brown religion reform international_relation john brown portray historian generation archetypal jeremiah depressed state country predict collapse britain foreign war national main negative argument estimate principles times luxury spring vast wealth trade would soon ruin nation contend idea capture essence brown john brown fascinate contemporary attack contemporary commercial_society actually estimate worthy attention brown reformer particular_kind central_argument order_explore estimate political worry fact complicate positive reform strategy great attention need pay politics philosophy none study brown take politics sufficiently seriously reform philosophy time first detail_study estimate origins argument reception defence analysis estimate cast_light