Description
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewIn this collection there are some fine individual essays which have important lessons for comparative political thought . . . so too does the volume as a whole. * History of Political Thought *
This book draws together an admirably extensive range of contributors to broaden and complicate the 'state of nature,' a concept which plays a pivotal role in Euro-American political theory. Chapters attempt to move beyond simplistic East versus West comparisons, to consider deeper questions in culturally diverse settings about the relationship of politics to conceptions of nature, society, and religion. The arguments in this book are sure to be controversial, but they draw much-needed attention to important political ideas from a diverse set of places and times. -- Leigh Jenco, London School of Economics and Political Science
This excellent, timely, and erudite collection of essays successfully demonstrates the significance and necessity of adopting a comparative perspective in western political theory. Thematic focus of the volume, on notions of the natural condition of mankind across cultures and civilizations, presents compelling reasons for political theorists and social scientists alike to revisit, re-contextualize, and renew existing understandings of the political. -- Hassan Bashir, Texas A&M University at Qatar
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Comparative States of Nature Russell Arben Fox Part One: The State of Nature and Applications in Chinese Thought Chapter 1. Self-Transformation and Civil Society: Lockean vs. Confucian Sungmoon Kim, City University of Hong Kong Chapter 2. Han Feizi’s Philosophical Psychology: Human Nature, Scarcity, and the NeoDarwinian Consensus Owen Flanagan and Jing Hu, Duke University Chapter 3. The Confucian Tradition, Nature, and Civil Education Russell Arben Fox, Friends University Chapter 4. States of Nature: Counter-Confucianism and the Daoist Encounter with Liberalism Eric Goodfield, American University, Beirut Chapter 5. Mozi, Hobbes, Locke and the State of Nature Al Martinich and Siwing Tsoi, University of Texas Chapter 6. Chinese Sage Kings and the Hobbesian State of Nature: Bridging Comparative Political Thought and International Relations Theory Jon D. Carlson, University of California, Merced Part Two: The State of Nature in Islam, India and Beyond Chapter 7. States of Nature and Islands of Politics: Animality, Death, Colonialism Murad Idris, Penn University, Cornell University Chapter 8. Ibn Khaldoun: Writing from the Margin—‘The State of Nature’—To Remain There. Magid Shihade, Birzeit University Chapter 9. The State of Nature and Domesticated Differences in Ancient Indian Political Thought: A Historical-Comparative Approach Stuart Gray, University of California, Santa Barbara, Johns Hopkins University Chapter 10. On Mātsyanyāya: The State of Nature in Indian Thought (from Asian Philosophy) David Slakter, University of Central Oklahoma Chapter 11. I'd Rather Just Devolve, Thank You: Enkidu, Gilgamesh, and an Ambiguous State of Nature Stefan Dolgert, Brock University Chapter 12. The Problem of the State of Nature in Medieval Jewish Political Philosophy Abraham Melamed, University of Haifa Chapter 13. The Nature of the State without the State of Nature: Micronesia and Polynesia Michael Stoil, University of Guam Conclusion. States of Nature: Consilience, Syncretism, and Challenges for Comparative Political Thought Jon D. Carlson, University of California, Merced
