Description
Book SynopsisA wonderful introduction to history''s most influential scribblers.--Steven Pinker
What is truly at stake in politics? Nothing less than how we should live, as individuals and as communities. This book goes beyond the surface headlines, the fake news and the hysteria to explore the timeless questions posed and answers offered by a diverse group of the 30 greatest political thinkers who have ever lived.
Are we political, economic, or religious animals? Should we live in small city-states, nations, or multinational empires? What values should politics promote? Should wealth be owned privately or in common? Do animals also have rights? There is no idea too radical for this global assortment of thinkers, which includes: Confucius; Plato; Augustine; Machiavelli; Burke; Wollstonecraft; Marx; Nietzsche; Gandhi; Qutb; Arendt; Nussbaum, Naess and Rawls.
In each brief chapter, the authors paint a vivid portrait of these often prescient, always compelling po
Trade Review
A wonderful introduction to history’s most influential scribblers, filled with clear explanations and engaging detail. -- Steven Pinker, author of 'Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress'
The authors have written a kind of Plutarch’s Lives of the great political philosophers. Their lively and engaging style make even the most abstract ideas come alive. This is a book that can be read and enjoyed by all. -- Steven B. Smith, Alfred Cowles Professor of Political Science, Yale University, author of Political Philosophy
An elegant meditation on political power … Garrard and Murphy take a self-critical view of citizenship, insisting that "you may not care about politics, but politics cares about you" -- Eric Beerbohm, Professor of Government, Harvard University
This book offers an excellent preparation for those who seek to distinguish the best from the worst in political life. -- Michael D. Gillespie, Professor of Political Science and Philosophy, Duke University
Table of Contents
Thinker Dates Introduction: Politics - Might Made Right ANCIENTS 1 Confucius: The Sage 2 Plato: The Dramatist 3 Aristotle: The Biologist 4 Augustine: The Realist MEDIEVALS 5 Al-Farabi: The Imam 6 Maimonides: The Lawgiver 7 Thomas Aquinas: The Harmonizer MODERNS 8 Niccolò Machiavelli: The Patrio 9 Thomas Hobbes: The Absolutist 10 John Locke: The Puritan 11 David Hume: The Sceptic 12 Jean-Jacques Rousseau: The Citizen 13 Edmund Burke: The Counter-Revolutionary 14 Mary Wollstonecroft: The Feminist 15 Immanuel Kant: The Purist 16 Thomas Paine: The Firebrand 17 Georg Wilhelm Freidrich Hegel: The Mystic 18 James Madison: The Founder 19 Alexis de Tocqueville: The Prophet 20 John Stuart Mill: The Individualist 21 Karl Marx: The Revolutionary 22 Friedrich Nietsche: The Psychologist CONTEMPORARIES 23 Mohandas Gandhi: The Warrior 24 Sayyid Qutb: The Jihadist 25 Hannah Arendt: The Pariah 26 Mao Zedong: The Chairman 27 Friedrich Hayek: The Libertairan 28 John Rawls: The Liberal 29 Martha Nussbaum: The Self-Developer 30 Arne Naess: The Mountaineer Conclusion: The Unhappy Marriage of Politics and Philosophy Suggested Further Reading Acknowledgements Index
