eprintid: 1317678
rev_number: 20
eprint_status: archive
userid: 615
dir: disk0/01/31/76/78
datestamp: 2011-10-31 20:45:43
lastmod: 2020-06-10 10:49:03
status_changed: 2011-10-31 20:45:43
type: thesis
metadata_visibility: show
item_issues_count: 0
creators_name: Mitchell, Annie
title: The character of an independent Whig: a study of the work of John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, including a comparative analysis of the social and political thought of Bernard Mandeville
ispublished: unpub
divisions: F28
note: Thesis digitised by British Library EThOS
abstract: Traditionally Cato's Letters have been seen as a keynote text in the construction of the civic
humanist paradigm, a perspective which has come to dominate contemporary understanding
of the intellectual currents at work in the shaping of eighteenth century Britain and America.
Within this paradigm the Letters have been viewed as emblematic of a 'neo-Harringtonian'
critique of Court corruption and the 'new economic order'.
However there are significant problems with this interpretation and this thesis argues that the
attitude of Trenchard and Gordon towards Walpole's ministry was more nuanced than is
usually suggested; that they were prepared to lend his administration their support when
occasion demanded. Against the trend to downplay the religious and ideological differences
between Whigs and Tories, in order to prioritise the Court-Country division, this thesis
suggests that Trenchard and Gordon's position towards Walpole can best be understood in
terms of their commitment to traditional Whig principles of freedom of conscience and
opposition to arbitrary rule, rather than on the basis of a preoccupation with issues of wealth
and virtue. Contrary to the accepted view that Trenchard and Gordon were opposed to
commerce and the financial instruments which it generated, and that they viewed a society
motivated by self-interest as a threat to civic virtue and liberty, this thesis contends that their
'scientific' political and moral philosophy both naturalised self-interest and redrew it as the
foundation of liberty.
In the process of calling into question 'Cato's' status as a civic humanist icon, this thesis also
points to similarities between Trenchard and Gordon's thought and that of Bernard
Mandeville, who conventionally has been represented as Cato's antithesis. By comparing the
work of all three writers, and the way in which they were viewed by contemporaries, it is
argued that in terms of religious, political and moral philosophy there are major points of
convergence in their ideology.
date: 2002
vfaculties: VSHS
oa_status: green
full_text_type: other
thesis_class: doctoral_open
thesis_award: Ph.D
language: eng
thesis_view: UCL_Thesis
dart: DART-Europe
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
full_text_status: public
pages: 282
institution: University of London
department: History
thesis_type: Doctoral
citation:        Mitchell, Annie;      (2002)    The character of an independent Whig: a study of the work of John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, including a comparative analysis of the social and political thought of Bernard Mandeville.                   Doctoral thesis  (Ph.D), University of London.     Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1317678/1/270408.pdf