I was educated at Leicester University and Wolfson College, Oxford. I worked for many years at University of Wales, Swansea, before coming to Cardiff in 2001. I have held visiting appointments at the University of Ferrara, Emory University and Arizona State University.

My interests range from political philosophy and history of political thought, through modern European federal theory, to contemporary politics and culture in Italy and Romania. I am involved in a major collaborative project (based here at Cardiff) exploring contrasting modes of justification invoked in normative argument. I am also currently completing a book provisionally entitled Philosophical Liberalism: A Defence of Weak Foundations.

My teaching focuses largely on history of political thought and normative political philosophy.

My principal publications include An Introduction to Historical Thought (1980), Vico’s Political Thought (1986), A History of Political Thought: 1789 to the Present (2005), The Politics of Italian National Identity (2000, jointly edited with Gino Bedani), Multiculturalism, Identity and Rights (2003, jointly edited with Peter Sutch), Principles and Political Order: The Challenge of Diversity (2006, jointly edited with Peri Roberts and Peter Sutch), in addition to numerous essays and articles in collaborative volumes and journals, including Political Theory, Political Studies, History of Political Thought, The Historical Journal, Journal of the History of Ideas, European Journal of Political Theory, European Studies Review and Social Research. A History of Political Thought: From Antiquity to the Present is due to be published in 2008. I am also joint editor of Collingwood and British Idealism Studies and associate editor of the European Journal of Political Theory.

Research Unit

Political Theory