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This course examines the social and political nature of human beings. Topics to be discussed may include regime types, political virtues, justice, natural right and law, sovereignty, community, and culture.
Aristotle’s Politics is one of the most influential texts in the history of political thought, and it raises issues which still confront anyone who wants to think seriously about the ways in which human societies are organized and governed. It was probably written towards the end of Aristotle’s career when he was head of the Lyceum and draws on Aristotle's own great knowledge of the political and constitutional affairs of the Greek cities. By examining the way societies are run - from households to city states - Aristotle establishes how successful constitutions can best be initiated and upheld.
Leviathan develops Hobbes’ theory of politics that government is primarily viewed as a device for ensuring collective security. Designed to meet the needs of both student and scholar, this edition of Leviathan offers a brilliant introduction by Edwin Curley, modernized spelling and punctuation of the text, and the inclusion, along with historical and interpretive notes, of the most significant variants between the English version of 1651 and the Latin version of 1668. A glossary of seventeenth-century English terms, and indexes of persons, subjects, and scriptural passages help make this the most thoughtfully conceived edition of Leviathan available.
This work by John Locke is a classic in the history of political theory. It was directed against the principles of Sir Robert Filmer, whose books assert the divine authority of kings and deny any right of resistance. In the second treatise, Locke defines political power as a “Right of making Laws with Penalties of Death, and consequently all less Penalties, for the Regulating and Preserving of Property, and of employing the force of the Community, in the Execution of such Laws and in defense of the Common-wealth from Foreign Injury, and all this only for the Public Good.”
The original edition was first published in 1970, and has long been established as the principal English-language edition of this important body of writing. In this expanded edition, two important texts illustrating Kants's view of history are included for the first time: his reviews of Herder's Ideas on the Philosophy of The History of Mankind and Conjectures on the Beginning of Human History; as well as the essay What is Orientation in Thinking. This edition also contains such useful student aids as notes on the texts, a comprehensive bibliography, and a new postscript, looking at some of the principal issues in Kantian scholarship that have arisen since first publication.
This anthology provides the essential writings of Marx and Engels. Selections range in coverage from history, society, and economics, to politics, philosophy, and the strategy and tactics of social revolution. Part One presents the writings of the young Marx. Part Two includes works critical of capitalism. Part Three are the works which outlines the program, strategy, and tactics of the revolutionary movement. Part Four includes writings on society and politics in the nineteenth century, both European and Asian and Russian. Part Five presents the later writings of Engels, in which Marxism was popularized and systematized for the benefit of the masses.
This book argues that the state is justified only when it is severely limited to the narrow function of protection against force, theft and fraud and to the enforcement of contracts. Any more extensive activities by the state, he demonstrates, will inevitably violate individual rights. A state would arise from anarchy even though no one intended this or tried to bring it about, by a process which need not violate anyone’s rights. Part One justifies the minimal state. Part Two contends that no more extensive state can be justified. Part Three builds a model of utopia.
This book blends history and philosophy to examine three thousand years of political thought. Drawing on three decades of research, Ryan insightfully traces the origins of political philosophy from the ancient Greeks to the present and evokes the lives and minds of our greatest thinkers. Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Hegel, Tocqueville, and Marx each get their own chapters. Whether writing about Plato or Augustine, Tocqueville or Jefferson, Ryan illuminates John Dewey's dictum that the role of philosophy is less to see truth than to enhance life.
In this book, Polybius described how Rome conquered the Mediterranean world in less than fifty-three years. Polybius emphasizes the importance of practical experience for the writing of political history as well as the critical assessment of all the evidence. He attributes Rome's success to the greatness of its constitution and the character of its people, but also allows Fortune a role in designing the shape of world events. This new translation by Robin Waterfield includes the first five books in their entirety, and all of the fragmentary Books 6 and 12, containing Polybius' account of the Roman constitution and his outspoken views on how (and how not) to write history.
In this work, Cicero made use of Greek thought to formulate the political and ethical values of Roman Republican society as he saw them, revealing incidentally a great deal about actual practice. Writing at a time of political crisis after the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44BC, when it was not clear how much of the old Republican order would survive, Cicero here handed on the insights of an elder statesman, adept at political theory and practice, to his son, and through him, to the younger generation in general. This book aims to render this work of Cicero by explaining its relation to its own time and place.
This book is a classical works in the discipline of political science. Chapter 1-5 discusses the different political types of states and the correct way to hold rule respectively. Chapter 6-11 discusses the ways in which a new ruler should act to hold rule. Chapter 12-14 discusses the importance of arms to the states. Chapter 15-23 expands on morality of the princes, widely known and repudiated as “half beast and half men”, as well as how to gain renown and consolidate rule over the state. The last three chapters presents the aim of the book- to emancipate Italy from servitude and poverty and to make Italy wealthy and strong.
This work reveals Machiavelli’s fundamental preference for a republican state. Machiavelli's close analysis of Livy's history of Rome led him to advance his most original and outspoken view of politics - the belief that a healthy body politic was characterized by social friction and conflict rather than by rigid stability. His discussion of conspiracies is one of the most sophisticated treatments of archetypal political upheaval ever written. This new translation is richly annotated, providing the contemporary reader with sufficient historical, linguistic, and political information based on the historical evidence Machiavelli found in Livy.
This book aims to work out a conception of justice that provides a reasonably systematic alternative to utilitarianism. It begins with the objections to the theory of justice and discusses alternative positions, especially utilitarianism. Then Rawls applies his theory to the philosophical basis of constitutional liberties, the problem of distributive justice, and the grounds and limits of political duty and obligation. Finally, he connects this theory of justice with a doctrine of the good and of moral development. This enables him to formulate a conception of society as a social union of social unions, and to use his theory of justice to explain the values of community.
