Biography

Martyn P. Thompson is a Professor of Political Science.   His main fields of research and publication are the history of political thought since the Renaissance, literature and politics, and contemporary German political theory. He has two doctorates, the first from the London School of Economics, the second (the Habilitation) from Tuebingen University. He has been a faculty member in the universities of London, Cambridge, and Tuebingen.

Professor Thompson's books include Michael Oakeshott and the Cambridge School on the History of Political Thought (2019), an edited volume, Locke and Kant: Historical Reception and Contemporary Relevance (1991), Ideas of Contract in English Political Thought in the Age of John Locke (1987), and, as co-editor, 24 volumes of Politisches Denken Jahrbuch (1992-2018).  His numerous articles have appeared in major journals including American Historical Review, Political Studies, Political Theory, Historical Journal, Journal of the History of Ideas, and History and Theory. 

In 1989 Professor Thompson founded the “German Society for the Study of Political Thought” (DGEPD).  From 1996 to 2003, he was President of the International Conference for the Study of Political Thought (CSPT), and from 2005 to 2009 he was President of the international Michael Oakeshott Association. 

Publications

Books

• Michael Oakeshott and the Cambridge School on the History of Political Thought. Routledge, 2019.  
• Ideas of Contract in English Political Thought. Routledge, 1987. Reprinted as a Rutledge Library Edition, 2019.
• John Locke and Immanuel Kant: Historical Reception and Contemporary Relevance. Editor.  Duncker & Humblot, 1991.
• Politisches Denken Jahrbuch. Co-edited with contributions. (13 volumes). Duncker und Humblot, 2003-2018.
• Politisches Denken Jahrbuch. Co-edited with contributions. (11 volumes). J. B. Metzler, 1992-2002.

Selected Articles

• "The Logic of the History of Ideas: Mark Bevir and Michael Oakeshott" Journal of the History of Ideas 73 (4):593-607, 2012.
• “Ideas of Europe during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars” Journal of the History of Ideas 55(1), 37 – 58, 1994.
• “Reception Theory and the Interpretation of Historical Meaning” History and Theory 32(3), 248 – 272, 1993.
• “The History of Fundamental Law in Political Thought from the French Wars of Religion to the American Revolution” The American Historical Review 91(5), 1103 – 1128, 1986.
• “The Reception of Locke’s Two Treatises of Government 1690-1705” Political Studies 24(2), 184 – 191, 1976.
• “A Note on ‘Reason’ and ‘History’ in Late Seventeenth Century Political Thought” Political Theory 4(4), 491 – 504, 1976.