Drawing on key published works, as well as those of his contemporaries, this book explores the political and economic thought of the seventeenth-century diplomat William Temple and his proposals for change in Restoration England and Ireland.
Adopting a revisionist approach, the book explores Temple’s efforts to balance and advance English society during a period of shifting power between England, the Netherlands and France. Engaging with themes including mercantilism, state building and environmental determinism, Temple connected the ideas of antiquity to those of contemporaries while influencing subsequent intellectual currents. As the book shows, Temple viewed humans as curious and greedy creatures, who would stop at nothing unless their motivations and passions could be subdued or diverted. This belief had immediate practical political and economic consequences in Temple’s work: the survival and stability of the polity had to be secured, but he also advocated toleration so that members of society were afforded space to follow their motivations. Furthermore, this led Temple to argue that prosperity could be achieved not only by managing human nature but through practical action as well. He advocated for direct investment in Ireland to boost its commercial prospects, albeit for the benefit of the English crown, in a way that foreshadows current thinking on economic development.
This book will be of interest to readers in the history of economic and political thought, environmental history, intellectual history and early modern history more broadly.
By:
Juha Haavisto
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Weight: 600g
ISBN: 9781032758459
ISBN 10: 1032758457
Series: Perspectives in Economic and Social History
Pages: 228
Publication Date: 18 July 2025
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
1. Introduction 2. Published Works of Temple: Contents, Timing and Contexts 3. Instigators of Change in the Seventeenth Century Societies: A Framework to Combine Political with Economic 4. The Practical Consequences of Change 5. Limiting, Managing and Tolerating the Political Society 6. Early Modern Economics and Building up Commercial Society 7. Temple’s Economics to Advance the Irish Economy 8. Conclusions
Juha Haavisto is a historian specializing in early modern political and economic thought, with a focus on governance, trade and the intellectual foundations of prosperity. His research explores how ideas of human nature, statecraft and economic policy shaped seventeenth-century debates on stability and progress. Holding a doctoral degree from the European University Institute, Haavisto has studied early modern intellectual history. In Economics, Politics and Prosperity, Haavisto offers a revisionist interpretation of William Temple, demonstrating Temple’s significance in the evolution of political and economic thought in early modern Europe.
