About
Bolingbroke’s The Idea of a Patriot King, written in 1738, asks how political authority might be recovered after corruption, faction, and court intrigue have weakened an otherwise free constitution. The seminar will consider his account of sovereignty, patriotism, public spirit, and the kind of ruler capable of governing for the good of the whole nation.
What to expect
The seminar will proceed slowly through the text, beginning with Bolingbroke’s distinction between lawful and arbitrary power, then turning to his treatment of faction, virtue, popularity, corruption, and national renewal. Its purpose is to understand how Bolingbroke imagined the restoration of authority within an inherited constitutional order.