Trousson, Raymond / Vercruysse, Jeroom (dir.), Dictionnaire general de Voltaire. (Champion classiques, references et dictionnaires 18) 1272 p. 2020:10 (Champion, FR) <670-9>
ISBN 978-2-38096-016-7 paper ¥7,064.- (税込) EUR 38.00

Sasser, Nathan I., Hume and the Demands of Philosophy: Science, Skepticism, and Moderation. 228 pp. 2022:2 (Lexington Books, US) <675-23>
ISBN 978-1-79362-321-8 hard ¥23,562.- (税込) US$ 105.00 *

With a comprehensive interpretation of Hume's scientific project to his skepticism, Hume and the Demands of Philosophy: Science, Skepticism, and Moderation argues that Hume is a radical epistemic skeptic who has purely practical reasons for retaining the beliefs that are essential for ordinary life and scientific research. Nathan I. Sasser argues that the key to Hume's epistemology is his conception of philosophy as a normative method of inquiry governing the special sciences. Philosophy approves of the mental faculties that produce reasoning and sensory beliefs. But sensory beliefs and the products of reason themselves face insuperable rational defeater arguments, and because they do, philosophy demands that we suspend these beliefs. Hume's solution to this skeptical dilemma is to point out the fatal practical consequences of suspending these core beliefs. He advises us not to submit to the demands of philosophy in cases where doing so is neither agreeable nor useful to ourselves or others. Hume's moderate approach to philosophy recognizes that since our faculties are not created by a beneficent God, the epistemic demands of philosophy and the practical demands of life sometimes diverge.

P.スコフィールド他編　ベンサムの民主主義・法廷・法典化論
Schofield, Philip / Zhai, Xiaobo (eds.), Bentham on Democracy, Courts, and Codification. 278 pp. 2022:9 (Cambridge U. Pr., UK) <675-24>
ISBN 978-1-316-51604-1 hard ¥24,497.- (税込) GB￡ 85.00 *

Drawing upon original manuscripts and The Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham, this collection represents the latest scholarship on Bentham's late and mature thought on constitutional law. The contributions cover a diverse range of major topics, from official aptitude or competency to the interests of women, and explore Bentham's writings on courts, codification, and cosmopolitanism. Together, its chapters challenge the received notion, based on early jurisprudential writings, that Bentham's constitutional thought is authoritarian, and show that Bentham, as a constitutional theorist, offers a distinctive liberal perspective. Freeing Bentham's theories from their long sentences and unfamiliar terminology, these essays make accessible Bentham's subtle and important ideas on liberal democracy. By shining a light on Bentham's mature thought, this volume offers a refreshingly comprehensive, detailed, and authentic account of Bentham's theory of democracy.

Cerovac, Ivan, John Stuart Mill and Epistemic Democracy. 206 pp. 2022:2 (Lexington Books, US) <675-21>
ISBN 978-1-79363-676-8 hard ¥23,562.- (税込) US$ 105.00 *

John Stuart Mill and Epistemic Democracy explores the epistemic, or cognitive, character of democratic institutional practices and the protection of basic liberties in Mill's political thought. Mapping Mill's theory of representative democracy and critically engaging Mill's more controversial issues, Ivan Cerovac identifies the epistemic criteria within these proposals and uses them as a basis for unifying Mill's political thought. The book addresses the epistemic role of wide democratic participation on the one hand and institutional mechanisms used to filter the public will-such as political representation, plural voting proposals, partisanship, division of epistemic and political labor-on the other, and it analyzes how Mill tries to resolve the conflict between political and epistemic values. Characterizing Mill as both a political instrumentalist and an epistemic democrat, Cerovac sets Mill's theory in a broader explanatory framework and compares it with contemporary accounts of epistemic justification. Emphasizing Mill's normative considerations regarding franchise and the exercise of political power over others, this book discusses how to implement the epistemic ideal in real-world politics. It will be a fascinating read for anyone interested in democratic decision-making.

Robinson, Scott, John Locke and the Uncivilized Society: Individualism and Resistance in America Today. (Political Theory for Today) 252 pp. 2021:4 (Lexington Books, US) <675-22>
ISBN 978-1-79361-757-6 hard ¥24,908.- (税込) US$ 111.00 *

John Locke's influence on American political culture has been largely misunderstood by his commentators. Though often regarded as the architect of a rationally-ordered and civilized liberalism, this book demonstrates that Locke's thought is culpable for the rather uncivilized expressions of political engagement seen recently in America. By relying upon Eric Voegelin's concept of pneumopathology, Locke is shown to be subtly constructing a liberal ideology and thereby individuals who approach liberalism as closed-minded ideologues, not as deeply responsible and mature citizens. Because Locke's citizens will be slogan chanters instead of deep thinkers, Locke's work does not create a liberalism that provides the best possible regime for humans, but a mere shadow of the best possible regime. In order to demonstrate this, nearly the entirety of Locke's political and other theoretical writings are analyzed, and a picture of Lockean individuals as irrationally selfish and incapable of communal dedication emerges. The problem with liberalism is not liberalism, but merely how it is advocated by Locke. Recommendations for improving the civility of political expression in liberal societies - and thereby liberalism itself - conclude this analysis of Locke's political thought and its effect on America today.