John Montfort Dunn

John Montfort Dunn

John Montfort Dunn (born 9 September 1940) 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.

Biography

The son of Colonel Henry George Montfort Dunn and Catherine Mary (née 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).

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 Locke: this benefitted 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 thory, 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).

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

* [http://www.sps.cam.ac.uk/pol/staff/jdunn.html Faculty page - Prof. John Dunn]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • John Dunn — can refer to:*Jack Dunn (1872 1928), minor league baseball owner and manager *Jack Dunn (figure skater) (d. 1939), British figure skater *John Dunn (1834 1895), South African historical person *John Dunn (bushranger) (1846 1866), Australian… …   Wikipedia

  • John Branch Jr. — John Branch John Branch (* 4. November 1782 in Halifax, North Carolina; † 3. Januar 1863 in Enfield, North Carolina) war ein US amerikanischer Politiker und Gouverneur von North Carolina und Florida. Außerdem war er Marine …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • John Branch — Infobox Governor name =John Branch order =19th office =Governor of North Carolina term start =1817 term end =1820 lieutenant = predecessor =William Miller successor =Jesse Franklin order2 =United States Senator from North Carolina term start2… …   Wikipedia

  • Harkness Fellowship — The Harkness Fellowships (previously known as the Commonwealth Fund Fellowships) are a programme run by the Commonwealth Fund of New York City. They were established to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships[1] and enable Fellows from several… …   Wikipedia

  • Masonic Lodges of North Carolina — Part of a series of articles on Freemasonry Core Articles Freemasonry · Grand Lodge · Masonic Lodge · Masonic Lodge Officers · Grand Master · Prince Hall Freemasonry · Regular Masonic jurisdictions · Continental F …   Wikipedia

  • History of democracy — Part of the Politics series Democracy History · …   Wikipedia

  • Liste De Zoologistes —  Attention, il n est pas d usage en zoologie d utiliser d abréviation pour les noms des auteurs (contrairement aux usages de la botanique, voir ici). Cette liste ne constitue pas une liste officielle. Nous attirons l attention du lecteur sur …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Liste de zoologiste — Liste de zoologistes  Attention, il n est pas d usage en zoologie d utiliser d abréviation pour les noms des auteurs (contrairement aux usages de la botanique, voir ici). Cette liste ne constitue pas une liste officielle. Nous attirons l… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Liste de zoologistes — Attention, il n est pas d usage en zoologie d utiliser d abréviation pour les noms des auteurs (contrairement aux usages de la botanique, voir ici). Cette liste ne constitue pas une liste officielle. Nous attirons l attention du lecteur sur son… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Liste des zoologistes par leur abréviation d'auteur — Liste de zoologistes  Attention, il n est pas d usage en zoologie d utiliser d abréviation pour les noms des auteurs (contrairement aux usages de la botanique, voir ici). Cette liste ne constitue pas une liste officielle. Nous attirons l… …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”