從彌爾頓的宗教政治思想看“公民社會”的精神基礎 [The Spiritual Foundation of Civil Society in Milton's Religio-Political Thought ]

Abstract

The 17th century was a vital period for the development of civil society into its modern form. Extant research on the formation of civil society is mostly centered on the perspective of relations of production rather than the puritan spirit behind the formation of modern British and American civil society. By studying John Milton, a significant puritan poet and thinker of the era, we find all sorts of ideas in his works comprising the modern meaning of “civil society”: secularism, religious tolerance, freedom of expression, democracy and constitutionalism. In the context of 17th century Britain, Milton’s thought represents the puritan spirit in such ideas as “liberty of conscience” and “covenant,” which laid the foundation for civil society in the 17th century English Revolution and subsequently the American Revolution.