This fundamental contribution to Paine’s political thought, based on a Ph. D thesis at the Sorbonne, deserves to be translated into English so that it becomes available to all Anglophones interested in the subject.
BOOK REVIEW: La Pensee Politique de Thomas Paine en Contexte: Theorie at Pratique Read Post »
In the first part of The Age of Reason, written during the French Revolution and completed we are told only a matter of hours before his arrest, Paine devotes some pages to a general account of astronomy as an introduction to his ideas on Christian theology.
Thomas Paine’s Astronomy Read Post »
The evening went with a real swing, and notwithstanding the heat ended amicably, with the final vote showing no change in the audience position. The feedback from this event, one of a series of topics, was very favourable, showing that there is an appetite for a debate of this kind.
Visiting cathedrals, ministers and churches are notable aspects of modern pilgrimages, which we call tourism. I think walking into a centuries old country church gives one a feeling for history and the past in a very human way; it has nothing to do with religious observance/
BOOK REVIEW: Religion For Atheists Read Post »
As humanity emerged from the long dark night of the Middle Ages, the ideas of religious and monarchical hegemony began to be challenged. Foremost among those doing this important work of demystification and enlightenment was Thomas Paine in his Rights of Man and The Age of Reason.
BOOK REVIEW: In God’s Shadow: Politics In The Hebrew Bible Read Post »
Shortly after his arrival in Philadelphia, however, Paine published an essay on ‘the Life and Death of Lord Clive’ which was highly critical of the type of ‘nabob’ whose election campaign he had supported in Shoreham. Clive’s conduct in India had been investigated by parliament.
The Role Of The East India Company In Thomas Paine’s Radicalisation Read Post »
English radical poetry has a long and honourable tradition dating back to at least the 17th century. Paine played a small but significant role in this tradition. He was a great influence on the Chartist movement which arose in the 1830s to demand the vote for working men.
Poetry For The People Read Post »
How dared Thomas Paine, a man whose formal education had ended at thirteen, who had failed as a skilled craftsman, as a teacher, as a shopkeeper, as a street preacher, as a petty customs official in the Excise, dismissed and a debtor and bankrupt, even dare to think about government?
