Pride and Politics in Early Modern Thought

Pride has undergone a remarkable revolution, transforming from a vice to a virtue: from a deadly sin to a positive sense of self-worth, associated with progressive political movements and self-respect. In early modern Britain and France, new positive ideas of pride were developed, but older negative conceptions were also reinvigorated. This project explores changing views of pride in seventeenth and eighteenth-century Britain and France, investigates the reasons for these changes, and examines the multifaceted relationships between pride and political ideas. It pays particular attention to underlying philosophical and theological developments that influenced understandings of pride. 

The period and geographical scope of the project facilitates the study of a rich variety of sources, including wide-ranging works of philosophy from well-known figures (e.g. Hobbes, Malebranche, Hume, Rousseau), and theological writings from a range of doctrinal perspectives (e.g. English Calvinists and French Jansenists). Along with major works, the project draws on material that is less known today, but which is important for understanding the debates and ideas of the period. As well as works of philosophy, this material includes sermons and religious commentaries, correspondence, and political pamphlets.