The Democratic Agent in the Writings of Ibn Khaldun, John Milton and Thomas Hobbes

Simon Alemba ()

International Journal of History Research, 2023, vol. 3, issue 1, 1 - 8

Abstract: Purpose: This paper seeks to pinpoint the notion of democracy and the democratic agent which were put forward by the 14th-century historiographer and historian Ibn Khaldun, the 17th century poet, John Milton and the philosopher Thomas Hobbes. In this regard, the paper proposes to bring to the fore different perceptions of the notion of democratic agent which were expounded by these thinkers. Ibn Khladun in his Muqqaddima is still regarded as the founder of modern sociology who is far ahead of his time. His theory of good governance based on his monumental work, al-Muqaddimah is still subject to diverse discussions and attention. He is reckoned as the founder of the science of human society as well as the forerunner of the original theories in social science, philosophy of history and economics. He has been described as the first Muslim scholar to write about the science of umran (urbanism). In his book entitled al-Muqaddimah (an Introduction) Ibn Khaldun exposed opinions about good governance which were fully detailed throughout several chapters of Al Muqaddimah. Methodology: The method used secondary sources from the writtings of Ibn Khaldun, John Milton and Thomas Hobbes. Findings: The study found out that there is no unique democratic agent heralding one truth, there were different elaborations and understanding of the relation between the government and the governed. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The study concluded that each thinker buttressed his ideas which were intrinsically framed by his political environment, his religion and his perceptions of the problems encompassing the period they lived in.

Keywords: Democratic Agent; Governance; Social Thinkers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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