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besandJohnLocke(allofthemgraduatesfromOxford)notonlymade
asignificant-fromthehistoricalperspective-contributiontothepo-
liticalphilosophyofRenaissanceandEnlightenment,butalsooutlined
aseriesoftopicsinpoliticaltheorydiscussedtodate,suchastheconcept
ofstate,politicalrepresentation,understandingoffreedom,thescopeof
government’spowers,etc.Thereisacloserelationbetweenpoliticalphi-
losophyandhistoricalpoliticalcontext.Fromthispointofview,special
importanceisattributedtothesecondhalfofthe17thcentury-aperiod
ofcivilwarsbetweensupportersofstrongmonarchyandthoseofthe
parliamentor-inabroadersense-therepublicansystem,whichended
withtheGloriousRevolutionof1688andshapedthemodernBritishpo-
liticalsystemandpoliticalculture(Hayward,1991,p.302).Owingtothe
continuityofthepoliticalsystemandthefactthatphilosophersreferred
tothatandotherhistoricalcontexts,today,politicalphilosophyofRenais-
sanceandEnlightenmentretainsitsrelevanceinpoliticaltheory(Skinner,
1998).
Whatdifferentiatesphilosophicalthoughtfrompoliticalthoughtisthe
comprehensivenatureoftheformer(Strauss,1959).Unlikescience,phi-
losophyavoideddisciplinarily;philosopherswere“asmuchconcerned
withlawaswithpolitics[...]Theyweredisposedtotreatsociety,andso-
cialproblems,asasingleunitofstudy”(P.King,1977,p.viii).Therefore,
politicalthoughtwasanintegralpartofbroaderconsiderationsonthe
society,devoidofitsownclearidentity,whichitdidnotbegintoevolve
untilthelate19thcentury.
Politicsasateachingandresearchfieldtookalongtimetogainthe
statusofindependentdisciplineatBritishuniversities-evenlonger
thanatAmericanones.Thesinglehonoursdegree(adegreeawardedat
graduationinoneautonomousdiscipline)inpoliticalsciencewasnot
awardeduntilthe1960s(Grant,2010,pp.5-6).Untilthen,political
sciencewastaughtaspartofprogrammescombiningvariousfieldsof
study,andresearchwasconductedinfacultiesandinstitutesofhistory,
law,orphilosophy.
AtOxfordUniversity,asphilosopherDavidGeorgeRitchiewrote
in1891,politicalissuesweretaughtatcoursesassessedthroughex-
aminationsatthreeoutofsevenexistinghonoursschools:theschool
ofLiteraeHumaniores(teachingmainlyclassicalphilosophicalGreek
andLatinliterature,theso-calledGreats),theschoolofjurisprudence
andtheschoolofmodernhistory.Politicaltopicswerecombinedwith
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