John Dunn (political scientist)
Encyclopedia
John Montfort Dunn is a emeritus Professor of Political Theory at King's College, Cambridge, and Visiting Professor in the Graduate School of Social Sciences and Humanities at Chiba University, Japan.
Kinloch), John Dunn was educated at Winchester
and Millfield
. He read history at King's College, Cambridge
. He was briefly (1965–1966) a fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge
; was Harkness Fellow at Harvard University
http://www.britac.ac.uk/events/2007/toleration/biog-dunn.html; and since 1966 he has been a fellow of King's College. A lecturer in political science at Cambridge University 1972-77, Dunn became reader in politics 1977-87, and has been professor of political theory since 1987. He has married three times: to Susan Deborah, née Fyvel (1965; divorced 1971); to Judith Frances Bernal (1973; divorced 1987) and to Ruth Scurr
(1997).
: this benefited from Peter Laslett
's critical edition of Locke's Two Treatises of Government
. Together with his contemporary, the historian Quentin Skinner
, and their mentor/colleague J.G.A. Pocock
, he offered methodological prescriptions in the late 1960s which aimed at correcting the historical insensitivity of political science by reconstructing what past political thinkers intended to do in writing. Much of his subsequent work - reflective essays, edited collections, and several books - has tackled substantive issues in political theory, although his historical sense continues to inform a certain skepticism about the degree to which politics is ultimately amenable to reason. He is the author of The Cunning of Unreason (2001), a work that discusses how the limits of human knowledge and rationality prevent democratic
republicanism
from achieving all that it promises. His reflections upon the vicissitudes of democracy as a political ideal have continued with Setting the People Free: the Story of Democracy (2005).
Biography
The son of Colonel Henry George Montfort Dunn and Catherine Mary (néeNEE
NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...
Kinloch), John Dunn was educated at Winchester
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
and Millfield
Millfield
Millfield is an independent school in Street in Somerset, in south-west England.The school currently has a roll of 1,260 pupils, of whom 910 are boarders...
. He read history at King's College, Cambridge
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
. He was briefly (1965–1966) a fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The College was founded in 1496 on the site of a Benedictine nunnery by John Alcock, then Bishop of Ely...
; was Harkness Fellow at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
http://www.britac.ac.uk/events/2007/toleration/biog-dunn.html; and since 1966 he has been a fellow of King's College. A lecturer in political science at Cambridge University 1972-77, Dunn became reader in politics 1977-87, and has been professor of political theory since 1987. He has married three times: to Susan Deborah, née Fyvel (1965; divorced 1971); to Judith Frances Bernal (1973; divorced 1987) and to Ruth Scurr
Ruth Scurr
Dr Ruth Scurr is a British writer and historian.She was admitted to Oxford University to read English but changed after a year to study Politics and Philosophy. She went on to study for a Master’s degree in Social and Political Theory and then completed a doctorate thesis on the political thought...
(1997).
Achievement
Dunn's work focuses on applying a historical perspective to modern political theory. His early reputation was based upon the careful reconstruction of the political thought of John LockeJohn Locke
John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
: this benefited from Peter Laslett
Peter Laslett
-Biography:Born Thomas Peter Ruffell Laslett and educated at the Watford Grammar School for Boys, Peter Laslett studied history at St John's College, Cambridge in 1935 and graduated with a double first in 1938. During the war he learned Japanese and worked at Bletchley Park and Washington decoding...
's critical edition of Locke's Two Treatises of Government
Two Treatises of Government
The Two Treatises of Government is a work of political philosophy published anonymously in 1689 by John Locke...
. Together with his contemporary, the historian Quentin Skinner
Quentin Skinner
Quentin Robert Duthie Skinner is the Barber Beaumont Professor of the Humanities at Queen Mary, University of London.-Biography:...
, and their mentor/colleague J.G.A. Pocock
J.G.A. Pocock
John Greville Agard Pocock , as a writer known as J. G. A. Pocock, is a historian noted for his trenchant studies of republicanism in the early modern period , for his treatment of Edward Gibbon and his contemporaries as historians of Enlightenment, and, in historical method, for his contributions...
, he offered methodological prescriptions in the late 1960s which aimed at correcting the historical insensitivity of political science by reconstructing what past political thinkers intended to do in writing. Much of his subsequent work - reflective essays, edited collections, and several books - has tackled substantive issues in political theory, although his historical sense continues to inform a certain skepticism about the degree to which politics is ultimately amenable to reason. He is the author of The Cunning of Unreason (2001), a work that discusses how the limits of human knowledge and rationality prevent democratic
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
republicanism
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
from achieving all that it promises. His reflections upon the vicissitudes of democracy as a political ideal have continued with Setting the People Free: the Story of Democracy (2005).
Works
- The Political Thought of John Locke (1969)
- Modern Revolutions (1972)
- Dependence and Opportunity (with A F Robertson, 1973)
- Western Political Theory in the Face of the Future (1979)
- Political Obligation in its Historical Context (1980)
- The Politics of Socialism (1984)
- Rethinking Modern Political Theory (1985)
- Interpreting Political Responsibility (1990)
- Democracy: the unfinished journey 508 BC - 1993 AD (ed, 1992)
- Contemporary Crisis of the Nation State? (ed, 1995)
- The History of Political Theory and Other Essays (1996)
- Great Political Thinkers (ed with Ian Harris, 1997)
- The Cunning of Unreason (2000)
- Locke: A Very Short Introduction (2003)
- Setting the People Free: The Story of Democracy (2005).
External links
- Faculty page - Prof. John Dunn
- John Dunn interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 5th March 2008 (film)
- John Dunn interviewed by RTRT (TV network)RT, previously known as Russia Today, is a global multilingual television news network based in the Russian Federation run by the state-owned state-run RIA Novosti....
's Laura Emmet