John Selden and the Western Political Tradition

Ofir Haivry is the co-founder and currently Vice-President of The Herzl Institute, Jerusalem, a research institute and training centre in the fields of Jewish political thought, Jewish philosophy and political Hebraism. He is also Director of the Herzl Institute's National Strategy Initiative. Haivry was founding Editor-in-Chief of the Shalem Press and of its flagship publication, Azure magazine. He serves on several high-profile public councils and committees in Israel, including Israel's Council for Higher Education and Israel's Council for Archaeology.

Preface; 1. Introduction: 'Glory of the English nation' – the life, works and ideas of John Selden; 2. Selden and the early modern crisis of knowledge and obligation; 3. Selden and the early modern dispute about the foundations of political order; 4. Law 'fitted to the genius of the nation': Selden's theory of national tradition in law and politics; 5. Selden and the 'universal philosophy of morals' drawn from the Hebrew tradition; 6. A 'single sword': Selden's theory of religion and state; 7. Conclusion: John Selden and the tradition of historical constitutionalism; Sources.