History of Political Philosophy

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A quick rundown of this product’s key features:

Designed for undergraduate students, a historical survey of the most important political philosophers in the Western tradition.

This volume provides an unequaled introduction to the thought of chief contributors to the Western tradition of political philosophy from classical Greek antiquity to the twentieth century. Written by specialists on the various philosophers, this third edition has been expanded significantly to include both new and revised essays.

Our Top Reviews

Reviewer: Lissi
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great Book.
Review: This is a great book inspires to think and evaluate certain things in life. Author gives a great perspective and many new viewpoints. Definitely recommend.Book arrived undamaged, and welk packaged so I am very pleased with my order.

Reviewer: Michael B.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A Must Have Collection of Essays
Review: This is an absolutely must-have collection of essays tracing the development of western political philosophy from Thucydides to Heidegger, and with a few unexpected detours along the way with studies on thinkers including Alfarabi, Maimonides and Marsilius of Padua.As some have pointed out, the collection would have benefitted from essays on philosophers like Rawls and Nozick – although writers like Foucault would likely have been an absolute persona non grata for Strauss and his acolytes.By the way, Strauss disciples should peruse the “Leo Strauss Center” maintained by the University of Chicago which contains lectures and transcripts from Plato to Nietzsche and ranging from brilliant to spellbinding.

Reviewer: NTL
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Excellent Treatment of Complex Subject Matter
Review: I am approaching this review from the viewpoint of someone who has a bit of working knowledge on the subject of political philosophy. That said, it is important to recognize the monumental achievement of this collaboration. Each author treats his particular subject with expertise, and each author lays out the important works of political philosophy by each major political theorist. The authors point out (where appropriate) the distinctions in the political writings of the philosophers (Augustine, Locke, Kant, Aquinas, Plato, Aristotle,etc), from their otherwise non-political oriented works. This is important, as not every thinker discussed is a political philosopher in the strictest sense. Rather, some of the philosophers are known primarily for their contributions in other branches of philosophy (Kant-Metaphysics, Epistemology; Descartes – metaphysics, epistemology; Locke – Epistemology; Augustine – Theology; Aquinas – Theology; etc). This is not to point out a shortcoming of the work but rather one of its greatest strengths. Five stars for an excellent and diverse treatment of highly complex subject matter. Caution: not for new comers; I would probably recommend an encyclopedia to get your feet wet before delving into this advanced work.

Reviewer: Ben Uziel
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great history of western political philosophy’s development
Review: I found this book to be compelling and broken into its parts in a digestible format. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on Spinoza, Hume, Nietzche, Tocquerville, Mill, Hegel, Smith and Marx. If you are interested in understanding how we got to where we are with our political institutions and what were the main questions and concerns in the development of these institutions, this book is a first rate tour that will enrich your comprehension of the Western political tradition. It is a tome that is definitely an investment of time, but I’m confident in the opinion that this is well worth the time.

Reviewer: Virginia Beach customer
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great book–but two bits of advice
Review: This is an excellent, classic text on political philosophy, but it is a very dense read. Two suggestions: If you want to read this, read a basic text on philosophy first, as the authors of this book clearly assume the reader has done that. And two, if you are a slow reader, this will be even slower: most chapters are a pretty “heavy” read, so don’t wait until the last minute to start this. Stanford University has an online philosophy library that I found much clearer and user-friendly, while still being very thorough.

Reviewer: eric warwick
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: This book can be looked upon as a survey of the best of western thought
Review: Leo Strauss was known for his close careful deep reading of classic Western Civilization philosophic texts. It shows here with him and his students doing a magnificent job. This book can be looked upon as a survey of the best of western thought. Now Strauss in his readings stresses taking the authors on their own terms in the context of their other works and their fellow countrymen who they are engaged in a dialogue with. We should judge them as true or false or indeterminate in our thinking about them–grapple with them and take them seriously. According to Strauss we are not to relativize them as progressing to our more enlightened modern view. In fact Strauss thinks classic political philosophy may be an aid to resolving what he takes to be our present crisis of modernity. Be that as it may these readings can be very deep such as the one on Nietzche. Eric Warwick

Reviewer: Simon Brueck
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: History of political Philosophy
Review: I read the first chapter but now find it difficult to get further. It is outstanding. I had 7 years of ancient greek in school and only now, at a considerably later age, I enjoy this essay on Tukydides and the perspective to read those to come later in the book. Good times we live in, at least in thos respect.

Reviewer: Carlos
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The book on political philosophy
Review: This is a must read for any person serious about understanding politics. It is the best book out there on western political philosophy.

Reviewer: Anastasia Tsakiridi
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Very informative book to anyone who started studying political science

Reviewer: Ali Shah
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: super happy with this book – great quality paper, great quality printing…..I did not know it is such a think book. Super happy. Just received 2 hours ago, already finished reading 3 chapters.

Reviewer: K.M
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Excellent

Reviewer: Anders C. Smedsvig
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: The book is well written, but wow, this is the ugliest paperback in my bookshelf. And it is a very clumsily proportioned mammoth of a book, so you will have to hold it with both hands at all times.

Reviewer: dennis j. stimpson
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: very good

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