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Introduction

Politics between Principle and Pragmatism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2022

Lisa Kattenberg
Affiliation:
University of Amsterdam
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Summary

This chapter introduces the distinctive character of Spanish reason of state and gives a sense of its broader contribution to the study of political thought. It develops the relationship between reason of state and history, and outlines the relevance of reason of state to recent work on the early modern uses of the past, developments in early modern historical scholarship and methods of coping with so-called ‘information overload’. This chapter introduces how this book explores reason of state in a number of theoretical and practical contexts in the seventeenth-century Spanish monarchy, by focusing on individuals who used the act of organizing information – drawn from classical and recent history, their own experience and analyses of current circumstances – to rhetorically present the condition of necessity. Furthermore, the chapter highlights the paradox that although reason of state as a discourse was closely entwined with political practice, no attempt has been made to systematically trace how the discourse functioned in political action. It also points out that Spain tends to be left out of discussions of seventeenth-century political thought, arguing that the Spanish monarchy’s context is especially valuable for advancing the historiography on the interaction between political ideas and concrete contexts.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Power of Necessity
Reason of State in the Spanish Monarchy, c. 1590–1650
, pp. 1 - 29
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Introduction
  • Lisa Kattenberg, University of Amsterdam
  • Book: The Power of Necessity
  • Online publication: 22 December 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009071864.001
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  • Introduction
  • Lisa Kattenberg, University of Amsterdam
  • Book: The Power of Necessity
  • Online publication: 22 December 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009071864.001
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.

  • Introduction
  • Lisa Kattenberg, University of Amsterdam
  • Book: The Power of Necessity
  • Online publication: 22 December 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009071864.001
Available formats
×