How is modern intellectual history possible

The Cambridge School has been remarkably successful in its attempt to grasp the character of political thought in the early modern period on the basis of historical data, rather than quasi-philosophical speculations. At the same time, it is questionable whether its research approach is suited to the study of later political thought. Still, the article argues, these difficulties are not insurmountable, and the Cambridge School can indeed serve as a model for historians of modern political thought.