Thomas Hobbes as a Theorist of Anarchy: A Theological Interpretation

Summary

Scholars of international relations generally invoke Hobbes as the quintessential theorist of international anarchy. David Armitage challenges this characterisation, arguing that Hobbes is regarded as a foundational figure in international relations theory in spite of as much as because of what he wrote on the subject. Thus, for Armitage, Hobbes is not the theorist of anarchy that he is made out to be. This article agrees with the general thrust of Armitage's critique while maintaining that it is still possible to imagine Hobbes as a theorist of anarchy. Hobbes is a theorist of anarchy, not in a political sense, but in a metaphysical sense. This conception of anarchy is a reflection of a comprehensive theological account of reality that is grounded in an omnipotent God. Any historical inquiry into the foundations of modern international thought must take account of theology, because theology defines the ultimate coordinates of reality in terms of which the concepts of international thought are intelligible.     

Spatial Tactics in Criminal Courts and the Politics of Legal Technicalities

This paper documents court‐imposed bail and sentencing conditions with spatial dimensions, such as red zones, no contact conditions, curfews and prohibitions to demonstrate, issued in the context of criminal proceedings. These conditional orders, which are growing in importance and have a significant impact on the lives of marginalized groups of people, have not received the attention they deserve in the literature. As opposed to better publicized forms of spatial regulation such as legislation or policing strategies, these conditional orders are a distinctive form of spatial tactic that rely on ancient and routinized rules of criminal procedure and the practices of the courts. In order to understand this spatial tactic, and its impact on marginalized people's rights and uses of spaces, we argue that it is necessary to pay attention to the legal rationalities, knowledge and practices that sustain them.     

Excavation on Nimowa Island,Louisiade Archipelago,Papua New Guinea: Insights Into Cultural Practices and the Development of Exchange Networks in the Southern Massim Region

Small-scale excavation was undertaken at the Malakai site on the small island of Nimowa, located in the Louisiade Archipelago, Massim region, Papua New Guinea. This is the first excavation to be reported in detail from the archipelago, with the Malakai site providing insight into cultural practices on the island and pottery exchange in the southern Massim region. A stratified deposit was revealed with dense cultural material, first inhabited from 1350 to 1290 cal. BP, with a subsequent period of settlement within the last 460–300 cal. years. Pottery, shell, and stone artifacts were recovered, as well as human skeletal remains in a primary burial context, which contributes to understanding regional patterns of prehistoric mortuary activity. It is argued that Nimowa was already part of an exchange network that encompassed many of the southern Massim islands when the Malakai site was first occupied. There is increased diversity in the number of vessel forms in later prehistory, but with remarkable continuity in the decorative motifs over time, suggesting some degree of regional social cohesion in the southern Massim. It appears that the northern Massim islands were not a major supplier of pottery to Nimowa. The implications for the prehistory of the wider region are subsequently discussed.     

New conceptions of transcendence in the thought of the British idealists

ABSTRACT

British Idealism was the philosophical school which dominated during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Using the ideas of Bernard Bosanquet, John Caird and Andrew Seth Pringle-Pattison as an illustration, this paper looks at some of the ways in which the British Idealists sought to develop new and more subtle conceptions of the transcendent, able to resist the corrosive effects of late nineteenth-century critical and naturalistic thinking. The paper concludes by looking at three fields – philosophy, theology and literature – in which it is possible to discern the ongoing influence into the first half of the twentieth century of their efforts.     

Experimental and Analytical Study of Seismic Soil-Pile-Structure Interaction in Layered Soil Half-Space

The dynamic interaction of pile foundations, embedded in a horizontally stratified soil profile, with superstructures under low to moderate earthquake excitation can be handled in different ways. In this article, the soil-pile-superstructure dynamic interaction problem has been investigated using the coupled finite element-boundary element method. Comparison with shaking table experiments of a small scale model pile shows a good correlation with the proposed method in terms of the kinematic response of pile foundations and the structural response. A parametric study of the proposed model has yielded important results essentially concerning the amplification factors of the pile foundation and the superstructure.