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Chapter 6 - Civilians and Barbarians

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2021

Seamus Deane
Foreword by
Joe Cleary
Seamus Deane
Affiliation:
University of Notre Dame, Indiana
Joe Cleary
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
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Summary

Those who live under the law are civilians; those who live beyond it are barbarians. ‘Law makes men free in the political arena, just as reason makes men free in the universe as a whole.’ Barbarians, therefore, are slaves, since they live in a world from which the operation of arbitrary individual will has not been eliminated. Law compels men to be free. In this paradox is to be found the nucleus of modern European theories of freedom, from Locke to Rousseau and beyond. But it was a common conception long before it received its articulation as an integral element in a comprehensive political philosophy.

Type
Chapter
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Small World
Ireland, 1798–2018
 , pp. 122 - 132
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Civilians and Barbarians
  • Seamus Deane, University of Notre Dame, Indiana
  • Foreword by Joe Cleary, Yale University, Connecticut
  • Book: Small World
  • Online publication: 03 June 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108892810.007
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  • Civilians and Barbarians
  • Seamus Deane, University of Notre Dame, Indiana
  • Foreword by Joe Cleary, Yale University, Connecticut
  • Book: Small World
  • Online publication: 03 June 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108892810.007
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Civilians and Barbarians
  • Seamus Deane, University of Notre Dame, Indiana
  • Foreword by Joe Cleary, Yale University, Connecticut
  • Book: Small World
  • Online publication: 03 June 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108892810.007
Available formats
×