Robert Filmer

Robert Filmer was a prominent English political theorist of the early modern period, best known for his staunch defense of absolute monarchy and the divine right of kings. His most famous work, Patriarcha, written during the political turmoil of the English Civil War, argued that political authority originates from the patriarchal power of Adam and is passed down through monarchs. Filmer's ideas became a foundational text for royalist ideology and were later famously critiqued by John Locke in his First Treatise of Government.

Life and background

Born around 1588 into a gentry family at East Sutton in Kent, he was the eldest son of Sir Edward Filmer. He matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1604 but did not take a degree. Filmer was knighted by King Charles I in the early 1630s, aligning him closely with the Stuart court. He lived through the escalating conflicts between Charles I and the Parliament of England, which culminated in the English Civil War. During the war, his estate suffered due to his royalist sympathies, and he was briefly imprisoned by Parliamentarian forces. He died in 1653, during the Interregnum under the Commonwealth of England.

Political theory

Filmer's political theory was a robust defense of patriarchalism, positing that all political power is derived from the natural, God-given authority of a father over his family. He traced this authority back to Adam, the first man in the Book of Genesis, whose power was absolute and hereditary. Filmer vehemently rejected competing theories of his day, including the social contract ideas associated with Thomas Hobbes and notions of popular sovereignty. He argued that concepts like the natural rights of individuals or the idea that government originated from the consent of the governed were dangerous fictions. His work was a direct ideological weapon against Parliamentarian claims and the writings of figures like John Milton.

Patriarcha

His seminal work, Patriarcha, or the Natural Power of Kings, was likely written in the late 1630s or early 1640s but was not published until 1680, long after his death, during the Exclusion Crisis. The publication was engineered by Tory supporters to provide a theoretical basis for opposing the exclusion of James, Duke of York, from the succession. The book systematically argues that monarchy is the only natural form of government, comparing the king's power to that of a father in a household. It directly attacks the works of George Buchanan, John Milton, and Hugo Grotius, whom Filmer saw as promoting seditious ideas. The timing of its publication made it a central text in the fierce debates between Whigs and Tories.

Influence and reception

Filmer's influence was largely posthumous and became significant during the late 17th-century political crises in England. His ideas were championed by Tory thinkers and became a cornerstone of Jacobite political thought. The most famous and devastating critique came from John Locke in the First Treatise of Government (1689), which was almost entirely dedicated to dismantling Filmer's arguments point by point. Locke's refutation, alongside his Second Treatise of Government, helped establish liberal political philosophy. Other critics included Algernon Sidney and James Tyrrell. Despite these attacks, Filmer's work remains a crucial primary source for understanding the intellectual defense of absolutism in Early modern Europe.

Works

In addition to Patriarcha, Filmer wrote several other political tracts. These include The Anarchy of a Limited or Mixed Monarchy (1648), a critique of monarchomach theories and a defense against writings like Philip Hunton's A Treatise of Monarchy. The Free-holders Grand Inquest (1648) examined the constitution and role of Parliament. Observations upon Aristotle's Politiques (1652) critiqued Aristotelian political ideas, and Observations Concerning the Original of Government (1652) further elaborated his patriarchal theories. His collected works were published in the 1679 edition titled The Free-holders Grand Inquest, Touching Our Sovereign Lord the King and His Parliament.

Category:1588 births Category:1653 deaths Category:English political writers Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Category:People from Kent Category:17th-century English writers Category:English knights Category:Political philosophers