Thomas Paine and the Idea of Human Rights

Transcription

1 Thomas Paine and the Idea of Human Rights Thomas Paine is a legendary Anglo-American political icon: a passionate, plain-speaking, relentlessly controversial, revolutionary campaigner, whose writings captured the zeitgeist of the two most significant political events of the eighteenth century, the American and French Revolutions. Though widely acknowledged by historians as one of the most important and influential pamphleteers, rhetoricians, polemicists and political actors of his age, the philosophical content of his writing has nevertheless been almost entirely ignored. This book takes Paine s political philosophy seriously. It explores his views concerning a number of perennial issues in modern political thought, including the grounds for, and limits to, political obligation; the nature of representative democracy; the justification for private property ownership; international relations; and the relationship between secular liberalism and religion. It shows that Paine offers a historically and philosophically distinct account of liberalism and a theory of human rights that is a progenitor of our own. robert lamb is Associate Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Exeter.

2

3 Thomas Paine and the Idea of Human Rights robert lamb

4 University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. Information on this title: / This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2015 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Lamb, Robert, 1979 Thomas Paine and the idea of human rights /. pages cm ISBN (hardback) 1. Paine, Thomas, Human rights Philosophy. 3. Political science Philosophy History 18th century. I. Title. JC177.A4L dc ISBN Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

5 For my parents, Seumas and Elisa, with gratitude, in awe

6

7 Contents Acknowledgements Note on texts page viii xi Introduction 1 1 Paine as political philosopher: interpretation and understanding 8 2 Political obligation, human rights and the moral universe 25 3 Rights of democratic inclusion and the virtues of citizenship 74 4 Private property, the natural inheritance and rights to welfare Cosmopolitanism and the rights of nations Religion, creation and liberalism 179 Conclusion 200 Bibliography 203 Index 211 vii

8 Acknowledgements I have been reading, writing and thinking about Thomas Paine on and off for over ten years and I have accumulated a mountain of intellectual debts, most of which blur any supposed boundary between professional and personal life. Although I have been threatening to write this book for what feels a long time, it did not become a serious undertaking until I wrote the majority of it in the first half of that year while a visiting fellow at the University of Sydney s Institute for Democracy and Human Rights. I am extremely grateful to several people there: to John Keane for arranging such a fabulous visit and for numerous thought-provoking discussions, as well as much hospitality and enthusiasm for my project; to Giovanni Navarria for so many lovely conversations in the sun and in our office; to Alex Lefebvre for being so welcoming, and for allowing me to expose my thoughts on Paine to his undergraduates; to David Allinson and Ben Moffitt for beer and sympathy; to the Australian Lambs Archie, James, Aidan and Janeen for their warmth and generosity; and to the University of Exeter for awarding me the sabbatical and also providing additional funding for my stay down under. I finished the book during a typically chaotic teaching term in the autumn and am indebted to my colleagues in the Department of Politics for their toleration of my preoccupation with it. The study of political theory has flourished splendidly at Exeter in recent years and I have had the great fortune to be surrounded by a tremendous bunch of talented peers, who have been both stimulating interlocutors and good friends: particular thanks goes to Kate Berrisford, Mike Cailes, Robin Douglass, Robin Durie, Chris Fear, Jack Griffiths, Keith Hyams, Stuart Ingham, Craig Lundy, Laura Moralee, Chris Nathan, Nikola Regent, Andy Schaap, Ed Skidelsky, Ben Thompson and Nathan Widder. I owe special thanks to the two people who have done the most to make my academic life at Exeter so fulfilling since I first arrived as a doctoral viii

9 Acknowledgements ix student in Dario Castiglione has been an unfailing source of kind, selfless support and sagacious advice and his infectious senses of humour and mischief have enriched my working life. As first my PhD supervisor and now my colleague, Iain Hampsher-Monk has been extraordinarily generous with his counsel, indulging even my earliest jottings with the ideal mixture of sharp criticism and sympathetic encouragement. In addition to his supererogatory mentoring, I am along with the thirstier theorists at Exeter indebted to Iain for his legendary hospitality, not least all the single malt whiskies enjoyed over the years in the wee small hours at Clifton Hill. Parts of the book have been presented to seminars at the Universities of York, Exeter, Plymouth, Kent, Oxford, Sydney, Cardiff and Cambridge, and to the Western Political Science Association meetings in San Antonio, Portland and Seattle. I am grateful to those audiences and to other scholars: Mark Philp has been a friendly critic of my work since he examined my doctorate; I have learned a great deal from Mark Bevir, whose advice and encouragement I have also benefited from; Matt Sleat provided very useful comments on the second chapter of the book; Sarah Pemberton did likewise on the third; and Christopher Fear offered some characteristically perceptive thoughts on how I might articulate my methodological commitments. Two anonymous reviewers supplied constructive suggestions about specific aspects of the manuscript and the editorial efficiency of John Haslam and Carrie Parkinson at Cambridge University Press has been exemplary. Earlier versions of parts of Chapter 4 and most of Chapter 5 have been published already, in The Review of Politics ( Liberty, Equality and the Boundaries of Ownership: Thomas Paine s Theory of Property Rights, Vol. 71 (2010): ) and The Journal of Politics ( The Liberal Cosmopolitanism of Thomas Paine, Vol. 76 (2014): ) and are reprinted with permission of Cambridge University Press. I owe profound gratitude to others whose assistance with the book was less directly academic than those noted above: to Alan Black, for over twenty years of laughter and spiritual fortification; to Simon Townsend, for many amusing and dissolute ramblings in and around Exeter; to Corinna Wagner, for first introducing me to Paine and for much provocation over the years; to Sarah Drews Lucas, for her delightful companionship during much of this writing process when she was emotionally proximate though geographically remote and also for carefully reading, and offering vital criticisms of, the

10 x Acknowledgements entire manuscript; and to the whole Lamb/Mazzoni clan, especially my brothers, David, Simon, and Andrew, for their camaraderie. Finally, this book is dedicated to my parents, Seumas and Elisa, though it is really a paltry gesture in light of all the succour they have given me. R.L. Exeter August 2014

11 Note on texts All references to Paine s works are from Philip S. Foner s two-volume edition, The Complete Writings of Thomas Paine (henceforth CW Ior II) (New York: Citadel Press, 1969). His major essays are cited using the following abbreviations: Common Sense CS Rights of Man ROM Rights of Man, Part the Second ROM II Dissertation on First Principles of Government DFPG The Age of Reason AOR The Age of Reason, Part Second AOR II Agrarian Justice AJ Foner s edition of Paine s works is the best currently available, but there are reasons to doubt the authorship of some of the minor essays included therein. This is especially true of some of the journalism, where the author is identified pseudonymously. I have tried therefore to avoid reference to essays with ambiguous authorship and do not use them to defend any important interpretive claims. For references to the writings of other canonical figures, I have where possible used the Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought series. xi

12