Written simply and directly—but without sacrificing intellectual depth—this widely acclaimed text explores the preeminent theorists of Western political thought from the pre-Socratics to the contemporary era. The author provides an in-depth analysis of a limited number of major thinkers, which allows for a richly detailed examination of each philosopher in historical context. Western Political Thought, Second Edition, presents the fundamental terms, ideas, and dilemmas of Western political philosophy in a straightforward, easy-to-understand manner. It organizes the theorists historically, explains basic concepts in depth, and draws out and analyzes the implications of various political theories. Moreover, this cohesive volume employs an overarching theme, examining each thinker in terms of the changing relationships of ethics and politics in Western political philosophy.

In this pathbreaking study of the works of Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, and Mill, Susan Moller Okin turns to the tradition of political philosophy that pervades Western culture and its institutions to understand why the gap between formal and real gender equality persists. Our philosophical heritage, Okin argues, largely rests on the assumption of the natural inequality of the sexes. Women cannot be included as equals within political theory unless its deep-rooted assumptions about the traditional family, its sex roles, and its relation to the wider world of political society are challenged. So long as this attitude pervades our institutions and behavior, the formal equality women have won has no chance of becoming substantive.

Discussions of the place of moral principle in political practice are haunted by the abstract and misleading distinction between realism and its various principled or "idealist" alternatives. This volume argues that such discussions must be recast in terms of the relationship between principle and prudence: as Nathan Tarcov maintains, that relationship is "not dichotomous but complementary." In a substantive introduction, the editors investigate Leo Strauss's attack on contemporary political thought for its failure to account for both principle and prudence in politics. Leading commentators then reflect on principle and prudence in the writings of great thinkers such as Homer, Machiavelli, and Hegel, and in the thoughts and actions of great statesmen such as Pericles, Jefferson, and Lincoln. In a concluding section, contributors reassess Strauss's own approach to principle and prudence in the history of political philosophy.

Western Political Thought: From Plato to Marx is a lucid and comprehensive account of political thought that stretches from ancient Greece to the nineteenth century. Analysing political philosophies chronologically, this book offers valuable insights into the political structures of societies across the ages, and presents a wide perspective on the various social and political ideologies. Each of the 12 chapters contains excerpts from the original works by the philosophers, comprehensive reading list, and thought provoking questions on the philosophies discussed.

"Germino examines the scholars of this period whose works he feels have made significant new approaches to the critical understanding of our world and, consequently, to the problems of our time. He discusses utilitarianism, lieberalism, scientism, and messianic nationalism"--Back cover

Demonstrates that the major traditions of thought from which the political values of the modern West have emerged are all, in crucial respects, incoherent or flawed. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.