Flattery and the History of Political Thought

Daniel J. Kapust is Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Affiliated with the Departments of Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Comparative Literature and Folklore Studies, and the Centers for Early Modern Studies and European Studies, he has published in the American Political Science Review, the Journal of Politics, European Journal of Political Theory, Political Theory, History of Political Thought, the Journal of the History of Ideas, and Political Studies. His first book, Republicanism, Rhetoric, and Roman Political Thought: Sallust, Livy, and Tacitus (Cambridge), was published in 2011, and he co-edited Comparative Political Theory in Time and Place (2016).

• Introduction; 1. 'Suffer no man to be king': friendship, liberty, and status in Roman political thought; 2. Without 'superfluous ornament': Castiglione, Machiavelli, and the performance of counsel; 3. 'The Monarch's plague': the problem of flattery and Hobbes's contingently unitary sovereign; 4. 'The bewitching engine': Mandeville and Smith on flattery, praise, and the origins of language; 5. 'Flattering to young ambitious minds': representing America in the ratification; Conclusion.

'Kapust's tour de force, lucid and well-argued throughout, demonstrates the significance of 'flattery' - a concept that is paid insufficient attention by contemporary political theorists. Flattery and the History of Political Thought exemplifies political theory at its best: it is faithful to the arguments and historical contexts of the political thinkers examined; and it also points up the relevance of 'flattery' for politics today, such as the deleterious effects of manipulation and insincerity - often concomitants of flattery - on democratic discourse and representation.' Gary Remer, Professor of Political Science, Tulane University, New Orleans