Selected essays of arguably the greatest and most influential historian of ideas of modern times.

This book, first published in 1992, presents a comprehensive scholarly account of the development of European political thinking through the Renaissance and the reformation to the 'scientific revolution' and political upheavals of the seventeenth century. It is written by a highly distinguished team of contributors.

This lucidly written text, in its second edition, continues to provide a comprehensive study of the classical political tradition from Plato to Marx. The book elucidates the fascinating evolution of the history of political ideas, through the works of thirteen key political thinkers — which includes Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hegel and Marx. The text highlights the decline and revival of classical political theory and portrays the clash of universalism vs. localism in the classical tradition. It focuses on the recent interpretations of the classical texts, for instance, feasibility of the ideal State in Plato; civic humanism and republicanism in Machiavelli; the radicalism of Locke, and the contributions to the woman’s cause by John Stuart Mill. The text is intended for the undergraduate and postgraduate students of Political Science of various universities, and for all those who are appearing for the civil services examinations. NEW TO THIS EDITION : Inclusion of two important liberal thinkers, Mary Wollstonecraft, the founder of liberal feminism, and Immanuel Kant, a de-ontological liberal. Addition of an Appendix on John Rawls who is credited as a seminal thinker of contemporary times, having played a crucial role in the revival of normative political theory.

A History of Political Thought is an accessible introduction to the history of political and economic thought; its main focus is the rise, and eventual consolidation, of modern market society. It asks: What are the effects of private property and commerce on individual well-being and on the stability of the political community? A History of Political Thought answers this central question through the careful study of political philosophers and economists, from ancient Greece to the twenty-first century. The book does not have an ideological agenda and gives equal voice to thinkers on opposite sides of the political spectrum. This is one of its key merits and a mark of distinction: its willingness to treat stark opponents – Hobbes and Locke, Smith and Marx, Keynes and Hayek, among others – as equally worthy of serious study. In doing so, the book provides students with a very powerful arsenal of ideas about the evolution of the market and also provides a solid introduction to the history of political thought.

This volume continues the story of European political theorising by focusing on medieval and Renaissance thinkers. It includes extensive discussion of the practices that underpinned medieval political theories and which continued to play crucial roles in the eventual development of early-modern political institutions and debates. The author strikes a balance between trying to understand the philosophical cogency of medieval and Renaissance arguments on the one hand, elucidating why historically-suited medieval and Renaissance thinkers thought the ways they did about politics; and why we often think otherwise.

A World History of Political Thought is an outstanding and innovative work with profound significance for the study of the history of political thought, providing a wide-ranging, detailed and global overview of political thought from 600 BC to the 21st century. Treating both western and non-western systems of political thought as equal and placing them as they should be; side by side.