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In 1978, at the age of 37, Quentin Skinner was elected to the position of professor of social and political theory at the University of Cambridge. 1 The appointment to this prestigious chair served to give recognition to his extensive scholarly contribution to two broad fields of contemporary study: the methodology of history, social science and literary criticism; and its application to contemporary political science and political theory, and to the history of politics (by which I mean political thought and action). His major work, The Foundations of Modern Political Thought, is a two-volume study of political thought and action during the Renaissance and Reformation. High praise and sharp criticism have greeted almost all his publications; a clear signal that he is recognized as an important thinker in the humanities and social sciences today.

My aim in this paper is to review his methodological writings and his study of early …