James Harrington | |
|---|---|
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:James_Harrington_by_Sir_Peter_Lely.jpg) James Harrington, portrait by Sir Peter Lely, ca.1658, National Portrait Gallery, London | |
| Born | 3 January 1611 Upton, Northamptonshire, England |
| Died | 11 September 1677 (aged 66) Little Ambry, Dean's Yard, Westminster, England |
| Resting place | St Margaret's, Westminster |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | English |
| Citizenship |  Kingdom of England (1611–1649; 1660–1677) Commonwealth of England (1649–1660) |
| Education | Trinity College, Oxford |
| Period | European wars of religion |
| Genre | Utopian fiction |
| Subject | Utopia, Republicanism |
| Notable works | The Commonwealth of Oceana |
James Harrington (or Harington) (3 January 1611 – 11 September 1677) was an English political theorist of classical republicanism.[1] He is best known for his controversial publication The Commonwealth of Oceana (1656). This work was an exposition of an ideal constitution, a utopia, designed to facilitate the development of the English republic established after the regicide, the execution of Charles I in 1649.
- ^ "England's premier civic humanist and Machiavellian. He was not the first to think about English politics in these terms..., but he was the first to achieve a paradigmatic restatement of English political understanding in the language and world-view inherited through Machiavelli." Pocock, "Intro", p. 15.