Difference between revisions of "Patriarcha, Or, The Natural Power of Kings"

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===by Sir Robert Filmer===
 
===by Sir Robert Filmer===
 
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<blockquote>...all of Filmer's political writings built on the foundation laid by Patriarcha. That book was a clearly organized and succinct work. It did three main things. First, it refuted all accounts of human society that suggested that the people were originally free, and that political authority originated in the consent of these free people. Filmer, displaying considerable acumen and powers of logic, was able to pick some sizeable holes in consent theory, and it is in this area that the book still has some force. Secondly, as an alternative account of the matter, Filmer identified political authority with the patriarchal authority of Adam. No human beings were ever born into freedom, because from creation onwards royal-patriarchal authority was in the hands of successors to the patriarchal authority of Adam, and then again of Noah. All modern kings were ‘either fathers of their people, or heirs of such fathers or usurpers of the right of such fathers’ (Sommerville, 2). Kings might be elected by their people, but the power that they executed was divinely instituted at the creation. Thirdly, Filmer used these arguments as a basis for a reading of the English constitution and its development. The natural patriarchal authority of kings was not limited by positive law. The king of England was ‘the author, interpreter and corrector of the common laws’ (Sommerville, 34). The liberties of parliament existed only by the monarch's grace, and, in point of fact, the Commons were not an original part of parliament. Many of Filmer's contemporaries believed that the tripartite character of the modern parliament had existed from before the Norman conquest, but he argued that the Commons had been summoned only from the time of Henry I. This proved, so Filmer argued, that the people had no natural or original right to parliamentary representation. <ref> Glenn Burgess, ‘Filmer, Sir Robert (1588?–1653)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2009 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/9424, accessed 11 June 2013] </ref> </blockquote>
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[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Filmer Sir Robert Filmer] (c. 1588-1653), an English political theorist and defender of the divine rights of kings, was born almost certainly in 1588 in Kent’s East Sutton parish.<ref>Glenn Burgess, [http://www.oxforddnb.com.proxy.wm.edu/view/article/9424 "Filmer, Sir Robert (1588?–1653)" in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford University Press, 2004- ), accessed 3 Oct 2013. (Subscription required for access.)</ref> He matriculated from Trinity College in Cambridge in 1604, though he did not take a degree. He was later accepted to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln%27s_Inn Lincoln’s Inn], one of the four [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inns_of_Court Inns of Court] in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong when they are “called to the Bar,” an English term indicating that a one is qualified to argue in court on behalf of another.<ref>''The Bar Council'' website, s.v. "Being Called to the Bar," accessed October 3, 2013 http://www.barcouncil.org.uk/becoming-a-barrister/how-to-become-a-barrister/being-called-to-the-bar.</ref> Filmer was called to the bar in 1613. Despite his qualifications, there is no evidence that Filmer ever practiced law.<br />
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''Patriarcha'', Filmer’s best-known work, was written in about 1630 and remained unpublished for nearly 50 years.<ref>Glenn Burgess, "Filmer, Sir Robert."</ref> Much dispute has arisen over ''Patriarcha’s'' original date of composition, but “good internal evidence” at the University of Chicago Code MS 413 strongly suggests composition before 1631.<ref>Ibid.</ref> ''Patriarcha'' represents an attack on the Calvinists and the Jesuits, two enemies of royal power in Filmer’s view.<ref>''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', ed. R.S. Downie and Ted Honderich (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), 280.</ref> In it, Filmer espouses the doctrines of extreme believers of the Divine Right party, theorizing that the family as a model for the state represents the true origin and appropriate model of all government and that subjects have a duty of passive obedience.<ref>Ibid.</ref> Filmer’s argument in ''Patriarcha'' traces the divine nature of the rule of patriarchs from the Old Testament onward, asserting that modern kings draw their power from the authority given by God to Adam, to Noah, to Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, who ruled the three continents of the Biblical Old World.<br />
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After his death, Filmer’s writings gained notoriety as a target for criticism in John Locke’s first ''Treatise'' and became a object of ridicule for Locke’s Whig contemporaries, including James Tyrell and Algernon Sidney.<ref>Glenn Burgess, "Filmer, Sir Robert."</ref>  
  
 
==Bibliographic Information==
 
==Bibliographic Information==
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'''Author:''' Sir Robert Filmer, (1588?-1653)
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'''Author:''' Sir Robert Filmer.
  
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'''Title:''' Patriarcha, Or, The Natural Power of Kings
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'''Title:''' ''Patriarcha, Or, The Natural Power of Kings''.
  
 
'''Published:''' London: Printed, and are to be sold by Walter Davis Book-binder, 1680.  
 
'''Published:''' London: Printed, and are to be sold by Walter Davis Book-binder, 1680.  
  
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'''Edition:'''
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'''Edition:''' First edition; 7, 141 pages.
  
 
==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
 
==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==

Revision as of 11:03, 4 October 2013

by Sir Robert Filmer

Sir Robert Filmer (c. 1588-1653), an English political theorist and defender of the divine rights of kings, was born almost certainly in 1588 in Kent’s East Sutton parish.[1] He matriculated from Trinity College in Cambridge in 1604, though he did not take a degree. He was later accepted to Lincoln’s Inn, one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong when they are “called to the Bar,” an English term indicating that a one is qualified to argue in court on behalf of another.[2] Filmer was called to the bar in 1613. Despite his qualifications, there is no evidence that Filmer ever practiced law.

Patriarcha, Filmer’s best-known work, was written in about 1630 and remained unpublished for nearly 50 years.[3] Much dispute has arisen over Patriarcha’s original date of composition, but “good internal evidence” at the University of Chicago Code MS 413 strongly suggests composition before 1631.[4] Patriarcha represents an attack on the Calvinists and the Jesuits, two enemies of royal power in Filmer’s view.[5] In it, Filmer espouses the doctrines of extreme believers of the Divine Right party, theorizing that the family as a model for the state represents the true origin and appropriate model of all government and that subjects have a duty of passive obedience.[6] Filmer’s argument in Patriarcha traces the divine nature of the rule of patriarchs from the Old Testament onward, asserting that modern kings draw their power from the authority given by God to Adam, to Noah, to Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, who ruled the three continents of the Biblical Old World.

After his death, Filmer’s writings gained notoriety as a target for criticism in John Locke’s first Treatise and became a object of ridicule for Locke’s Whig contemporaries, including James Tyrell and Algernon Sidney.[7]

Bibliographic Information

Author: Sir Robert Filmer.

Title: Patriarcha, Or, The Natural Power of Kings.

Published: London: Printed, and are to be sold by Walter Davis Book-binder, 1680.

Edition: First edition; 7, 141 pages.

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy

View this book in William & Mary's online catalog.

References

  1. ↑ Glenn Burgess, [http://www.oxforddnb.com.proxy.wm.edu/view/article/9424 "Filmer, Sir Robert (1588?–1653)" in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004- ), accessed 3 Oct 2013. (Subscription required for access.)
  2. ↑ The Bar Council website, s.v. "Being Called to the Bar," accessed October 3, 2013 http://www.barcouncil.org.uk/becoming-a-barrister/how-to-become-a-barrister/being-called-to-the-bar.
  3. ↑ Glenn Burgess, "Filmer, Sir Robert."
  4. ↑ Ibid.
  5. ↑ The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, ed. R.S. Downie and Ted Honderich (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), 280.
  6. ↑ Ibid.
  7. ↑ Glenn Burgess, "Filmer, Sir Robert."
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