Designed to include all of the texts from Presocratics through Machiavelli likely to be read in an undergraduate course on classical political thought, this anthology has at its core generous selections from Plato and Aristotle. Building on this core is a sufficiently diverse and substantial selection of texts from other writers--including Thucydides and the Sophists--to allow for inquiry into the variety of Classical Greek approaches to politics, as well as into Roman, Medieval and Renaissance developments of the classical tradition. Preeminent translations and the editor's own thoughtful introductions further distinguish this unique anthology.
A thoroughly updated and substantially expanded edition of an acclaimed anthology This is a thoroughly updated and substantially expanded new edition of one of the most popular, wide-ranging, and engaging anthologies of Western political thinking, one that spans from antiquity to the twenty-first century. In addition to the majority of the pieces that appeared in the original edition, this new edition features exciting new selections from more recent thinkers who address vital contemporary issues, including identity, cosmopolitanism, global justice, and populism. Organized chronologically, the anthology brings together a fascinating array of writings--including essays, book excerpts, speeches, and other documents—that have indelibly shaped how politics and society are understood. Each chronological section and thinker is presented with a brief, lucid introduction, making this a valuable reference as well as reader. A thoroughly updated and substantially expanded edition of an acclaimed anthology of political thought Features a wide range of thinkers, including Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Augustine, Aquinas, Christine de Pizan, Machiavelli, Luther, Calvin, Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Swift, Hume, Rousseau, Adam Smith, Jefferson, Burke, Olympes de Gouges, Wollstonecraft, Kant, Hegel, Bentham, Mill, de Tocqueville, Frederick Douglass, Lincoln, Marx, Nietzsche, Lenin, John Dewey, Gaetano Mosca, Roberto Michels, Weber, Emma Goldman, Freud, Einstein, Mussolini, Arendt, Hayek, Franklin D. Roosevelt, T. H. Marshall, Orwell, Leo Strauss, de Beauvoir, Fanon, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Havel, Fukuyama, Mitchell Cohen, Habermas, Foucault, Rawls, Nozick, Walzer, Iris Marion Young, Martha Nussbaum, Peter Singer, Amartya Sen, and Jan-Werner Müller Includes brief introductions for each thinker
A useful collection of sources, now reprinted, which document and commentate on the formation of medieval political culture between the 12th and 14th centuries. Aimed at a non-specialist readership fifteen texts are presented in English translation and in chronological order supported by suggestions for further reading. These include letters and treatises by Bernard of Clairvaux, Marie de France, John of Salisbury, Thomas Aquinas, John of Paris, Dante Alighieri, William of Ockham, John Wyclif and Christine de Pizan.
Presents unabridged works and substantive abridgments in preeminent translations, along with balanced, lucid, sophisticated introductions. This book includes a wide and balanced selection of many of the more important texts of modern political thought. To its great credit, it provides pertinent excerpts from frequently neglected authors, such as Calvin and Hume, which it nicely juxtaposes appear to be good, and the introductions to each section help to situate the writers in their historical and intellectual context and to alert students to some of the central issues that arise in the texts. This book offers an economical and useful approach to modern political thought.
This anthology surveys important issues in Western political philosophy from Plato to the present day. Its aim is to show both the continuity and the development of political thought over time. Each unit begins with readings on the fundamental theoretical principles underlying political discourse. Theory is then connected to practice in readings on contemporary issues as well as court cases and other political documents.
This book presents selections from the political and social thought of the ancient West from the early sixth century BCE up to the early years of the Roman Empire and includes not only the classic philosophers, Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero, but a number of dramatists and historians as well. The range of topics these writings treat run from class conflict, through the perils of democracy and the horrors of tyranny, to the place of women in politics, while the styles range from the deeply dramatic of Sophocles’ Antigone and the bawdy satire of Aristophanes’ Assemblywomen to Plato’s Socratic dialogue Republic and Aristotle’s scientific treatise Politics. The translations have been chosen, and sometimes modified, for clarity and readability, and are accompanied by introductions which set forth the historical context and trace the general lines of thought the readings develop. Frequent notes explain references to ancient lore unfamiliar to many readers. Questions for discussion accompany each reading.
History of Political Theory: An Introduction is an engaging introduction to the main figures in the history of Western Political Theory and their most important works. The second volume traces the origin and development of liberal political theory, and so the foundations for contemporary views.
The intellectual legacy of Confucianism has loomed large in efforts to understand China's past, present, and future. While Confucian ethics has been thoroughly explored, the question remains: what exactly is Confucian political thought? Classical Confucian Political Thought returns to the classical texts of the Confucian tradition to answer this vital question. Showing how Confucian ethics and politics diverge, Loubna El Amine argues that Confucian political thought is not a direct application of Confucian moral philosophy. Instead, contrary to the conventional view that Confucian rule aims to instill virtue in all members of society, El Amine demonstrates that its main aim is to promote political order. El Amine analyzes key aspects of the Confucian political vision, including the relationship between the ruler and the people, the typology of rulers, and the role of ministers and government officials. She also looks at Confucianism’s account of the mechanisms through which society is to be regulated, from welfare policies to rituals. She explains that the Confucian conception of the political leaves space open for the rule of those who are not virtuous if these rulers establish and maintain political order. She also contends that Confucians defend the duty to take part in government based on the benefits that such participation can bring to society. Classical Confucian Political Thought brings a new understanding to Confucian political theory by illustrating that it is not chiefly idealistic and centered on virtue, but rather realistic and driven by political concerns.
