Dados is one of the most widely-read social sciences journals in Latin America. Created in 1966, it publishes innovative works, originating from academic research, by Brazilian and foreign authors. Edited by IESP-UERJ, it aims to reconcile scientific rigor and academic excellence with an emphasis on public debate based on the analysis of substantive issues of society and politics.
Dados vol. 53 n. 2 Rio de Janeiro 2010
Abstract
This article aims to map and investigate the methodological debate spearheaded by the Cambridge School of history of political thought in the last four decades, focusing on the formulations of Quentin Skinner and the main objections raised by his critics. After a brief presentation of the prescriptions in Skinner's methods, the article discusses how his linguistic contextualism has been criticized for: a) his epistemological commitments (denounced alternately as relativist and positivist), b) his adherence to intentionalism, and c) his tendency towards 'antiquarianism'. The article concludes that of these three modalities of objections, the attribution of 'antiquarianism' was the one that most compromised Skinner's original methodological formulations, recently leading him to virtually abandon his original antipresentist thrust.
Keywords: Cambridge School, linguistic contextualism, Quentin Skinner, presentism, historicism
DOI: 10.1590/S0011-52582010000200002
Linguistic contextualism in the history of politic thought: Quentin Skinner and the contemporary methodological debate
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