J.G.A. Pocock and the idea of the 'Cambridge School' in the history of political thought. Issue 1 (2nd January 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: James, Samuel
• Is Part Of: History of European ideas. Volume 45:Issue 1(2019)
• Page Start: 83
• Page End: 98
• Publication Date: 2019-01-02
• Subjects: Pocock -- Cambridge School -- contextualism -- historiography -- history of political thought -- intellectual history; Europe -- Intellectual life -- Periodicals; Europe -- History -- Periodicals; 190.5
• DOI: 10.1080/01916599.2018.1498011
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0191-6599

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article offers a reinterpretation of the origins and character of the so-called 'Cambridge School' in the history of political thought by reconstructing the intellectual background to J.G.A. Pocock's 1962 essay 'The History of Political Thought: A Methodological Enquiry', typically regarded as the first statement of a 'Cambridge' approach. I argue that neither linguistic philosophy nor the celebrated work of Peter Laslett exerted a major influence on Pocock's work between 1948 and 1962. Instead, I emphasise the importance of Pocock's interest in the history of historiography and of his doctoral supervisor, Herbert Butterfield. By placing Pocock's intellectual development in these contexts, I suggest, the autonomy of diverse versions of the 'Cambridge' approach can more readily be perceived.