Teresa M Bejan
Biographic Data
| ID | 1070397 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Teresa M Bejan |
| GIVEN NAMES | Teresa M |
| FAMILY NAME | Bejan |
| SIGNATURE | BEJAN T M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Oxford |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3091-595X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 45 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Signs of a Misspent Youth
This article revisits Quentin Skinner’s Reason and Rhetoric in the Philosophy of Hobbes (1996) while also shining a light on Hobbes’s stated educational ambitions in Leviathan . It situates those ambitions within the wider politics of educational reform in revolutionary England while highlighting the importance of virtuous teachers to Hobbes’s claim that a limited focus on reforming higher education might bring about wider social and political tr…
Hobbes against hate speech
This article argues that Thomas Hobbes' analysis of insult or ‘contumely’ prefigures recent developments in moral and political philosophy in striking ways. Specifically, Hobbes's concerns about the dignitary harms in hate speech went well beyond ‘fighting words’ to the essential role played by expressions of hatred and contempt in making and unmaking social hierarchies. Hobbes’s sensitivity to contumely’s subtle power to constitute social in/equ…
Religion, Politics, and Historical Approaches to Philosophy
This enormously erudite and original book is the culmination of many years of thinking deeply about difficult texts. Rosen's book explores themes of deep interest and importance to me—about religion, about politics, and about historical approaches to philosophy. My comments and questions will focus on these, and more on Kant than on Hegel
Introduction
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Hobbes and Hats
There is no more analyzed image in the history of political thought than the frontispiece of Hobbes's Leviathan (1651), yet the tiny figures making up the giant have largely escaped scholarly attention. So, too, have their hats. This article recovers what men's failure to "doff and don" their hats in the frontispiece might have conveyed to readers about their relationship to the Sovereign and each other. Sometimes big ideas-about the nature of re…
What Was the Point of Equality
Political theorists often turn to seventeenth‐century England and the Levellers as sources of egalitarian insight. Yet by the time the Levellers were active, the claim that human beings were “equal” by nature was commonplace. Why, in Leveller hands, did a long‐standing piety consistent with social hierarchy became suddenly effectual? Inspired by Elizabeth Anderson, this article explores what equality—and the related concept of parity—meant for th…
Rawls's Teaching and the “Tradition” of Political Philosophy
This article explores Rawls's evolving orientation to “the tradition of political philosophy” over the course of his academic career, culminating in Justice as Fairness: A Restatement (2001). Drawing on archival material, it argues that Rawls's fascination with tradition arose out of his own pedagogical engagement with the debate around the “death of political philosophy” in the 1950s. Throughout, I highlight the significance of Rawls's teaching—…
The Historical Rawls
John Rawls (1921–2002) and his work are now squarely a subject for history. In the more than fifteen years since his death, a rich body of scholarship has emerged which attempts, in different ways, to understand the nature, development, and impact of Rawls's thought from a variety of historical perspectives. With 2021 marking fifty years since A Theory of Justice (1971) was first published, this special forum examines what we here call the “histo…
Reconsidering Tolerance
Tolerance underlies many contemporary controversies, yet theorists and political scientists study it in strikingly different ways. This article bridges the gap by using recent developments in political theory to enrich empirical research and extend the study of tolerance to contexts beyond liberal democracies, such as authoritarian regimes. Our recommendations challenge dominant liberal-democratic frameworks by emphasizing variation across the (1…
Free Expression or Equal Speech?
The classical liberal doctrine of free expression asserts the priority of speech as an extension of the freedom of thought. Yet its critics argue that freedom of expression, itself, demands the suppression of the so-called “silencing speech” of racists, sexists, and so on, as a threat to the equal expressive rights of others. This essay argues that the claim to free expression must be distinguished from claims to equal speech. The former asserts …
The Troubling Ambiguity of Peace
Since All the World is mad, why should not I be so?” Mary Astell on Equality, Hierarchy, and Ambition
Ever since Mary Astell was introduced as the “First English Feminist” in 1986, scholars have been perplexed by her dual commitments to natural equality and social, political, and ecclesiastical hierarchy. But any supposed “paradox” in her thought is the product of a modernist conceit that treats equality and hierarchy as antonyms, assuming the former must be prior, normative, and hostile to the latter. Seeing this, two other crucial features of A…
Response to Andrew R. Murphy’s review of Mere Civility
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Mere Civility
In liberal democracies committed to tolerating diversity as well as disagreement, the loss of civility in the public sphere seems critical. But is civility really a virtue, or a demand for conformity that silences dissent? Teresa Bejan looks at early modern debates about religious toleration for answers about what a civil society should look like.
Mere civility
Civility is often treated as an essential virtue in liberal democracies that promise to protect diversity as well as active disagreement in the public sphere. Yet the fear that our tolerant society faces a crisis of incivility is gaining ground. Politicians and public intellectuals call for "more civility" as the solution--but is civility really a virtue? Or is it something more sinister--a covert demand for conformity that silences dissent? Mere…
Response to Saba Mahmood's Religious Difference in a Secular Age
In an unpublished memorandum written six years before his famous Epistola de Tolerantia (1685), John Locke recorded an anecdote about the English ambassador to Constantinople. Having opened a room
Difference without Disagreement
In arguments for a more tolerant Hobbes, Leviathan's endorsement of “Independency” is often Exhibit A; however, the conditionals Hobbes attached have received little attention. These—and the dangers of “contention” and sectarian “affection” they identify—are essential for understanding Hobbes's views on toleration. Together, they express a vision of “difference without disagreement” in which the accommodation of diversity in religious worship and…
Evangelical Toleration
This article recovers "evangelical toleration" as a neglected tradition in early modern political thought with important consequences for contemporary political theory and practice. Many political theorists dismiss the prudential arguments made by "proto-liberal" thinkers like Roger Williams or John Locke in favor of toleration as a necessary precondition for evangelism and conversion as intolerant, unacceptably instrumental, and inessential to t…
The Bond of Civility
In this article, I examine the meaning of the concept of ‘civility’ for Roger Williams and the role it played in his arguments for religious toleration. I place his concern with civility in the broader context of his life and works and show how it differed from the missionary and civilizing efforts of his fellow New English among the American Indians. For Williams, civility represented a standard of inclusion in the civil community that was ‘esse…
Difference without Disagreement
In arguments for a more tolerant Hobbes, Leviathan's endorsement of “Independency” is often Exhibit A; however, the conditionals Hobbes attached have received little attention. These—and the dangers of “contention” and sectarian “affection” they identify—are essential for understanding Hobbes's views on toleration. Together, they express a vision of “difference without disagreement” in which the accommodation of diversity in religious worship and…
The Bond of Civility
In this article, I examine the meaning of the concept of ‘civility’ for Roger Williams and the role it played in his arguments for religious toleration. I place his concern with civility in the broader context of his life and works and show how it differed from the missionary and civilizing efforts of his fellow New English among the American Indians. For Williams, civility represented a standard of inclusion in the civil community that was ‘esse…
The Historical Rawls
John Rawls (1921–2002) and his work are now squarely a subject for history. In the more than fifteen years since his death, a rich body of scholarship has emerged which attempts, in different ways, to understand the nature, development, and impact of Rawls's thought from a variety of historical perspectives. With 2021 marking fifty years since A Theory of Justice (1971) was first published, this special forum examines what we here call the “histo…
Reconsidering Tolerance
Tolerance underlies many contemporary controversies, yet theorists and political scientists study it in strikingly different ways. This article bridges the gap by using recent developments in political theory to enrich empirical research and extend the study of tolerance to contexts beyond liberal democracies, such as authoritarian regimes. Our recommendations challenge dominant liberal-democratic frameworks by emphasizing variation across the (1…
What Was the Point of Equality
Political theorists often turn to seventeenth‐century England and the Levellers as sources of egalitarian insight. Yet by the time the Levellers were active, the claim that human beings were “equal” by nature was commonplace. Why, in Leveller hands, did a long‐standing piety consistent with social hierarchy became suddenly effectual? Inspired by Elizabeth Anderson, this article explores what equality—and the related concept of parity—meant for th…
Since All the World is mad, why should not I be so?” Mary Astell on Equality, Hierarchy, and Ambition
Ever since Mary Astell was introduced as the “First English Feminist” in 1986, scholars have been perplexed by her dual commitments to natural equality and social, political, and ecclesiastical hierarchy. But any supposed “paradox” in her thought is the product of a modernist conceit that treats equality and hierarchy as antonyms, assuming the former must be prior, normative, and hostile to the latter. Seeing this, two other crucial features of A…
Evangelical Toleration
This article recovers "evangelical toleration" as a neglected tradition in early modern political thought with important consequences for contemporary political theory and practice. Many political theorists dismiss the prudential arguments made by "proto-liberal" thinkers like Roger Williams or John Locke in favor of toleration as a necessary precondition for evangelism and conversion as intolerant, unacceptably instrumental, and inessential to t…
Hobbes and Hats
There is no more analyzed image in the history of political thought than the frontispiece of Hobbes's Leviathan (1651), yet the tiny figures making up the giant have largely escaped scholarly attention. So, too, have their hats. This article recovers what men's failure to "doff and don" their hats in the frontispiece might have conveyed to readers about their relationship to the Sovereign and each other. Sometimes big ideas-about the nature of re…
Rawls's Teaching and the “Tradition” of Political Philosophy
This article explores Rawls's evolving orientation to “the tradition of political philosophy” over the course of his academic career, culminating in Justice as Fairness: A Restatement (2001). Drawing on archival material, it argues that Rawls's fascination with tradition arose out of his own pedagogical engagement with the debate around the “death of political philosophy” in the 1950s. Throughout, I highlight the significance of Rawls's teaching—…
The Bond of Civility
In this article, I examine the meaning of the concept of ‘civility’ for Roger Williams and the role it played in his arguments for religious toleration. I place his concern with civility in the broader context of his life and works and show how it differed from the missionary and civilizing efforts of his fellow New English among the American Indians. For Williams, civility represented a standard of inclusion in the civil community that was ‘esse…
Evangelical Toleration
This article recovers "evangelical toleration" as a neglected tradition in early modern political thought with important consequences for contemporary political theory and practice. Many political theorists dismiss the prudential arguments made by "proto-liberal" thinkers like Roger Williams or John Locke in favor of toleration as a necessary precondition for evangelism and conversion as intolerant, unacceptably instrumental, and inessential to t…
Response to Saba Mahmood's Religious Difference in a Secular Age
In an unpublished memorandum written six years before his famous Epistola de Tolerantia (1685), John Locke recorded an anecdote about the English ambassador to Constantinople. Having opened a room
Difference without Disagreement
In arguments for a more tolerant Hobbes, Leviathan's endorsement of “Independency” is often Exhibit A; however, the conditionals Hobbes attached have received little attention. These—and the dangers of “contention” and sectarian “affection” they identify—are essential for understanding Hobbes's views on toleration. Together, they express a vision of “difference without disagreement” in which the accommodation of diversity in religious worship and…
Mere Civility
In liberal democracies committed to tolerating diversity as well as disagreement, the loss of civility in the public sphere seems critical. But is civility really a virtue, or a demand for conformity that silences dissent? Teresa Bejan looks at early modern debates about religious toleration for answers about what a civil society should look like.
Mere civility
Civility is often treated as an essential virtue in liberal democracies that promise to protect diversity as well as active disagreement in the public sphere. Yet the fear that our tolerant society faces a crisis of incivility is gaining ground. Politicians and public intellectuals call for "more civility" as the solution--but is civility really a virtue? Or is it something more sinister--a covert demand for conformity that silences dissent? Mere…
Response to Andrew R. Murphy’s review of Mere Civility
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Since All the World is mad, why should not I be so?” Mary Astell on Equality, Hierarchy, and Ambition
Ever since Mary Astell was introduced as the “First English Feminist” in 1986, scholars have been perplexed by her dual commitments to natural equality and social, political, and ecclesiastical hierarchy. But any supposed “paradox” in her thought is the product of a modernist conceit that treats equality and hierarchy as antonyms, assuming the former must be prior, normative, and hostile to the latter. Seeing this, two other crucial features of A…
Free Expression or Equal Speech?
The classical liberal doctrine of free expression asserts the priority of speech as an extension of the freedom of thought. Yet its critics argue that freedom of expression, itself, demands the suppression of the so-called “silencing speech” of racists, sexists, and so on, as a threat to the equal expressive rights of others. This essay argues that the claim to free expression must be distinguished from claims to equal speech. The former asserts …
The Troubling Ambiguity of Peace
Rawls's Teaching and the “Tradition” of Political Philosophy
This article explores Rawls's evolving orientation to “the tradition of political philosophy” over the course of his academic career, culminating in Justice as Fairness: A Restatement (2001). Drawing on archival material, it argues that Rawls's fascination with tradition arose out of his own pedagogical engagement with the debate around the “death of political philosophy” in the 1950s. Throughout, I highlight the significance of Rawls's teaching—…
The Historical Rawls
John Rawls (1921–2002) and his work are now squarely a subject for history. In the more than fifteen years since his death, a rich body of scholarship has emerged which attempts, in different ways, to understand the nature, development, and impact of Rawls's thought from a variety of historical perspectives. With 2021 marking fifty years since A Theory of Justice (1971) was first published, this special forum examines what we here call the “histo…
Reconsidering Tolerance
Tolerance underlies many contemporary controversies, yet theorists and political scientists study it in strikingly different ways. This article bridges the gap by using recent developments in political theory to enrich empirical research and extend the study of tolerance to contexts beyond liberal democracies, such as authoritarian regimes. Our recommendations challenge dominant liberal-democratic frameworks by emphasizing variation across the (1…
What Was the Point of Equality
Political theorists often turn to seventeenth‐century England and the Levellers as sources of egalitarian insight. Yet by the time the Levellers were active, the claim that human beings were “equal” by nature was commonplace. Why, in Leveller hands, did a long‐standing piety consistent with social hierarchy became suddenly effectual? Inspired by Elizabeth Anderson, this article explores what equality—and the related concept of parity—meant for th…
Religion, Politics, and Historical Approaches to Philosophy
This enormously erudite and original book is the culmination of many years of thinking deeply about difficult texts. Rosen's book explores themes of deep interest and importance to me—about religion, about politics, and about historical approaches to philosophy. My comments and questions will focus on these, and more on Kant than on Hegel
Introduction
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Hobbes and Hats
There is no more analyzed image in the history of political thought than the frontispiece of Hobbes's Leviathan (1651), yet the tiny figures making up the giant have largely escaped scholarly attention. So, too, have their hats. This article recovers what men's failure to "doff and don" their hats in the frontispiece might have conveyed to readers about their relationship to the Sovereign and each other. Sometimes big ideas-about the nature of re…
Hobbes against hate speech
This article argues that Thomas Hobbes' analysis of insult or ‘contumely’ prefigures recent developments in moral and political philosophy in striking ways. Specifically, Hobbes's concerns about the dignitary harms in hate speech went well beyond ‘fighting words’ to the essential role played by expressions of hatred and contempt in making and unmaking social hierarchies. Hobbes’s sensitivity to contumely’s subtle power to constitute social in/equ…
Signs of a Misspent Youth
This article revisits Quentin Skinner’s Reason and Rhetoric in the Philosophy of Hobbes (1996) while also shining a light on Hobbes’s stated educational ambitions in Leviathan . It situates those ambitions within the wider politics of educational reform in revolutionary England while highlighting the importance of virtuous teachers to Hobbes’s claim that a limited focus on reforming higher education might bring about wider social and political tr…
Philosophy (17 works) · Political science (15 works) · Sociology (15 works) · Law (14 works) · Philosophy (14 works) · Epistemology (13 works) · Politics (12 works) · Law (11 works) · Political Philosophy and Ethics (10 works) · American Constitutional Law and Politics (7 works)