Constant minds : political virtue and the Lipsian paradigm in England, 1584-1650 / Adriana McCrea.

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Investigates Lipsian ideas in the moral, political, and literary culture of late 16nth- and early 17th-century England through examination of the writings and activities of Walter Raleigh, Francis Bacon, Fulke Greville, Ben Jonson, and Joseph Hall.

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CHOICE Review

McCrea argues that notions of constancy derived from writings of the Flemish neo-Stoic philosopher Justus Lipsius influenced the thought and practice of five early modern Englishmen: Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Bacon, Ben Jonson, Fulke Greville, and Bishop Joseph Hall. Her book provides convenient sketches of the life, times, and philosophies of its subjects. McCrea's method of close reading suggests the existence of a series of Lipsian contexts rather than a paradigm, but she is to be commended for revealing the impact of Continental trends on the development of English political culture and for detecting problems that connected the experiences of the war-torn 1590s with those of the revolutionary 1640s. McCrea concludes that Lipsianism served as an ethic of "survival and participation," ultimately forming one of the philosophical tributaries of classical republicanism during the English Commonwealth. Historians of early modern politics will find much to contend with in this sweeping argument. Graduate students and faculty. M. C. Noonkester William Carey College