David Lay Williams
Biographic Data
| ID | 3832323 |
|---|---|
| NAME | David Lay Williams |
| GIVEN NAMES | David Lay |
| FAMILY NAME | Williams |
| SIGNATURE | WILLIAMS D L |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2136-4332 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 108 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1974 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Response to critics
This response to critics addresses the questions raised throughout the symposium on the various issues raised throughout the Greatest of All Plagues . I address some of Cordelli's concerns about Hobbes's empirical assumptions by turning to Tocqueville. I answer Kirkland's questions regarding the nature of reforms intended to rectify inequality—whether practical or moral. Finally, I address Arlen's objections that the book has focused too much on …
The Meritocracy Debate of the Eighteenth Century
Meritocracy has rightly received increasing attention among scholars in recent years, but relatively little has been written about its history. This article traces the history of the idea back to the eighteenth century when Mandeville, Rousseau, and Kant addressed it. Mandeville and Kant made the case for meritocracy; Rousseau worried about its negative social effects. This article sketches that debate, and I argue that Rousseau’s critiques were …
Rousseau and Tlaxcala: Indigenous Transfigurations, Republican Liberty, and the Transimperial Politics of the New World
Plato and the mythic tradition in political thought
The role of the word 'myth' in contemporary political discourse appears to be fairly straightforward: to call something a 'myth' (e.g., 'the Lost Cause,' 'the steal,' 'the stab in the back,' 'the fallen cherry tree,' 'racial superiority,' 'computer chips in vaccines,' 'There was so much love at that [January 6th] rally') is usually to call it a
Hobbes on Wealth, Poverty, and Economic Inequality
While Thomas Hobbes is not typically cited as a philosopher concerned with economic inequality, there is a great deal of evidence in his writings to suggest that he was aware of inequality and worried about its effects on the commonwealth. This essay first contextualizes Hobbes in the development of the 17th-century English political economy to understand the mercantilist milieu that might have shaped Hobbes’s thoughts. Second, it then explores H…
A Note from the Editors
Rousseau on Inequality and Free Will
Spinoza and the General Will
The general will has traditionally been associated with the early modern Platonists, such as Malebranche and Leibniz. Yet careful examination of Benedict Spinoza’s works reveals a prototype of the general will predating the constructions of his famous successors. This is significant not only in reordering the narrative of the general will’s history, but also in revealing an entirely different and original strain that anticipates twentieth-century…
Political Ontology and Institutional Design in Montesquieu and Rousseau
Historians of political thought have been puzzled by Montesquieu's simultaneous appeals to the diversity of human practices and eternal norms of justice. Isaiah Berlin famously referred to this as an impassable “contradiction” burdening his work. Careful examination of Rousseau's appropriations from and developments on Montesquieu, however, reveal that these observations are not merely reconcilable—they provide a fruitful way to approach legislat…
Hobbes and Terrorism
Terrorism is perhaps the greatest challenge of the contemporary age. Of all the canonical figures in political theory, Thomas Hobbes is the most likely candidate to offer genuine insight into this problem. Yet although his analysis of the state of nature is immediately relevant to the diagnosis of this problem, his metaphysics cannot sustain his politics. His aspiration to "immutable" natural laws grounded in the universal motivation of the fear …
Modern Theorist of Tyranny? Lessons from Rousseau's System of Checks and Balances
From the public burnings of the Social Contract occurring immediately following its publication, to Isaiah Berlin's condemnation of Rousseau as "the most sinister and most formidable enemy of liberty in the whole history of modern thought," Jean-Jacques Rousseau has rarely held universal favor among his commentators. The most common charge against him was, and remains, that he provided the essential philosophic tools for the modern tyrant. While …
Justice and the General Will: Affirming Rousseau's Ancient Orientation
Justice and the General Will:Affirming Rousseau's Ancient Orientation David Lay Williams There is much confusion about how to characterize the work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. His thought has at various times been related to such dissimilar thinkers as Plato and Hobbes. From Plato he is said to have acquired his affinities for community and civic virtue. And one does not have to look too hard to find his praise for the great sage of the Academy: "P…
Africa and international relations
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
Germany, Japan and National Economics: An Alternative Paradigm of Modernity?
Governance, the World Bank and Liberal Theory
We examine the recent debates about governance, focusing particularly on the World Bank and identify certain factors which have in recent years moved the Bank's thinking beyond narrowly economic notions of development. Our account is tentative and we suggest further avenues of research. We try to connect the Bank's thinking systematically with key features of liberal discourse and suggest that this can do much to illuminate practice. We illustrat…
The Minimum Sentences Act, 1972, of Tanzania
In 1963 a Minimum Sentences Act 2 was passed which restricted discretion previously available to judges and magistrates when sentencing convicted persons. No new substantive offences were created by the Act but minimum sentences of imprisonment and corporal punishment were made mandatory for certain itemized property offences (“scheduled offences”). The Act aroused considerable interest both inside and outside this country and there is a long bib…
Governance, the World Bank and Liberal Theory
We examine the recent debates about governance, focusing particularly on the World Bank and identify certain factors which have in recent years moved the Bank's thinking beyond narrowly economic notions of development. Our account is tentative and we suggest further avenues of research. We try to connect the Bank's thinking systematically with key features of liberal discourse and suggest that this can do much to illuminate practice. We illustrat…
Political Ontology and Institutional Design in Montesquieu and Rousseau
Historians of political thought have been puzzled by Montesquieu's simultaneous appeals to the diversity of human practices and eternal norms of justice. Isaiah Berlin famously referred to this as an impassable “contradiction” burdening his work. Careful examination of Rousseau's appropriations from and developments on Montesquieu, however, reveal that these observations are not merely reconcilable—they provide a fruitful way to approach legislat…
Modern Theorist of Tyranny? Lessons from Rousseau's System of Checks and Balances
From the public burnings of the Social Contract occurring immediately following its publication, to Isaiah Berlin's condemnation of Rousseau as "the most sinister and most formidable enemy of liberty in the whole history of modern thought," Jean-Jacques Rousseau has rarely held universal favor among his commentators. The most common charge against him was, and remains, that he provided the essential philosophic tools for the modern tyrant. While …
Spinoza and the General Will
The general will has traditionally been associated with the early modern Platonists, such as Malebranche and Leibniz. Yet careful examination of Benedict Spinoza’s works reveals a prototype of the general will predating the constructions of his famous successors. This is significant not only in reordering the narrative of the general will’s history, but also in revealing an entirely different and original strain that anticipates twentieth-century…
Justice and the General Will: Affirming Rousseau's Ancient Orientation
Justice and the General Will:Affirming Rousseau's Ancient Orientation David Lay Williams There is much confusion about how to characterize the work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. His thought has at various times been related to such dissimilar thinkers as Plato and Hobbes. From Plato he is said to have acquired his affinities for community and civic virtue. And one does not have to look too hard to find his praise for the great sage of the Academy: "P…
Hobbes and Terrorism
Terrorism is perhaps the greatest challenge of the contemporary age. Of all the canonical figures in political theory, Thomas Hobbes is the most likely candidate to offer genuine insight into this problem. Yet although his analysis of the state of nature is immediately relevant to the diagnosis of this problem, his metaphysics cannot sustain his politics. His aspiration to "immutable" natural laws grounded in the universal motivation of the fear …
The Minimum Sentences Act, 1972, of Tanzania
In 1963 a Minimum Sentences Act 2 was passed which restricted discretion previously available to judges and magistrates when sentencing convicted persons. No new substantive offences were created by the Act but minimum sentences of imprisonment and corporal punishment were made mandatory for certain itemized property offences (“scheduled offences”). The Act aroused considerable interest both inside and outside this country and there is a long bib…
Governance, the World Bank and Liberal Theory
We examine the recent debates about governance, focusing particularly on the World Bank and identify certain factors which have in recent years moved the Bank's thinking beyond narrowly economic notions of development. Our account is tentative and we suggest further avenues of research. We try to connect the Bank's thinking systematically with key features of liberal discourse and suggest that this can do much to illuminate practice. We illustrat…
Germany, Japan and National Economics: An Alternative Paradigm of Modernity?
Africa and international relations
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
Modern Theorist of Tyranny? Lessons from Rousseau's System of Checks and Balances
From the public burnings of the Social Contract occurring immediately following its publication, to Isaiah Berlin's condemnation of Rousseau as "the most sinister and most formidable enemy of liberty in the whole history of modern thought," Jean-Jacques Rousseau has rarely held universal favor among his commentators. The most common charge against him was, and remains, that he provided the essential philosophic tools for the modern tyrant. While …
Justice and the General Will: Affirming Rousseau's Ancient Orientation
Justice and the General Will:Affirming Rousseau's Ancient Orientation David Lay Williams There is much confusion about how to characterize the work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. His thought has at various times been related to such dissimilar thinkers as Plato and Hobbes. From Plato he is said to have acquired his affinities for community and civic virtue. And one does not have to look too hard to find his praise for the great sage of the Academy: "P…
Hobbes and Terrorism
Terrorism is perhaps the greatest challenge of the contemporary age. Of all the canonical figures in political theory, Thomas Hobbes is the most likely candidate to offer genuine insight into this problem. Yet although his analysis of the state of nature is immediately relevant to the diagnosis of this problem, his metaphysics cannot sustain his politics. His aspiration to "immutable" natural laws grounded in the universal motivation of the fear …
Spinoza and the General Will
The general will has traditionally been associated with the early modern Platonists, such as Malebranche and Leibniz. Yet careful examination of Benedict Spinoza’s works reveals a prototype of the general will predating the constructions of his famous successors. This is significant not only in reordering the narrative of the general will’s history, but also in revealing an entirely different and original strain that anticipates twentieth-century…
Political Ontology and Institutional Design in Montesquieu and Rousseau
Historians of political thought have been puzzled by Montesquieu's simultaneous appeals to the diversity of human practices and eternal norms of justice. Isaiah Berlin famously referred to this as an impassable “contradiction” burdening his work. Careful examination of Rousseau's appropriations from and developments on Montesquieu, however, reveal that these observations are not merely reconcilable—they provide a fruitful way to approach legislat…
Rousseau on Inequality and Free Will
A Note from the Editors
Hobbes on Wealth, Poverty, and Economic Inequality
While Thomas Hobbes is not typically cited as a philosopher concerned with economic inequality, there is a great deal of evidence in his writings to suggest that he was aware of inequality and worried about its effects on the commonwealth. This essay first contextualizes Hobbes in the development of the 17th-century English political economy to understand the mercantilist milieu that might have shaped Hobbes’s thoughts. Second, it then explores H…
Plato and the mythic tradition in political thought
The role of the word 'myth' in contemporary political discourse appears to be fairly straightforward: to call something a 'myth' (e.g., 'the Lost Cause,' 'the steal,' 'the stab in the back,' 'the fallen cherry tree,' 'racial superiority,' 'computer chips in vaccines,' 'There was so much love at that [January 6th] rally') is usually to call it a
The Meritocracy Debate of the Eighteenth Century
Meritocracy has rightly received increasing attention among scholars in recent years, but relatively little has been written about its history. This article traces the history of the idea back to the eighteenth century when Mandeville, Rousseau, and Kant addressed it. Mandeville and Kant made the case for meritocracy; Rousseau worried about its negative social effects. This article sketches that debate, and I argue that Rousseau’s critiques were …
Rousseau and Tlaxcala: Indigenous Transfigurations, Republican Liberty, and the Transimperial Politics of the New World
Response to critics
This response to critics addresses the questions raised throughout the symposium on the various issues raised throughout the Greatest of All Plagues . I address some of Cordelli's concerns about Hobbes's empirical assumptions by turning to Tocqueville. I answer Kirkland's questions regarding the nature of reforms intended to rectify inequality—whether practical or moral. Finally, I address Arlen's objections that the book has focused too much on …
Political science (11 works) · Philosophy (10 works) · Epistemology (9 works) · Law (9 works) · Politics (8 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Philosophy (7 works) · Law (6 works) · Political philosophy (6 works) · Rousseau and Enlightenment Thought (6 works)