Based on author's thesis (doctoral - Birkbeck College, 2017). Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:
Introduction -- A normative history of power -- The theology of God's power as an archaeology of the modern notion of power -- The classic age of the distinction -- The distinction in the early-modern era -- Gentili's religion and the secularization of the theology of God's power -- Conclusion.
Summary:
"With a foreword by Diego Quaglioni This book attempts to determine the degree to which the modern fate of the Western legal tradition depends on one of the most long-standing debates of the Middle Ages, the distinction between potentia Dei absoluta and ordinata (God's absolute and ordered power). The mediaeval investigation into God's attributes was originally concerned with the problem of divine almightiness. It underwent a slow but steady displacement from the territory of theology to the freshly emerging proceedings of legal analysis. Here, based on the distinction, late-mediaeval lawyers worked out a new terminology to define the extent of the power-holder's authority. This effort would give rise, during the early modern era, to the gradual establishment of the legal-political framework represented by the concepts of the prince and sovereignty"-- Provided by publisher.
Series:
Scientific and learned cultures and their institutions, 2352-1325 ; volume 34
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.