Book Description
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 has boxes with excerpts from the original works by the philosophers, a comprehensive reading list and thought provoking questions on the philosophies discussed in the book.Table of Contents
- Cover
- Title page
- Contents
- About the Author
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1. The Greek City-State: Democratic Institutions in Athens
- 2. Plato (427–347 BCE): Justice and Reason
- 3. Aristotle (384–322 BCE): Moral Action and the Best Constitution
- 4. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas: Christian Political Thought in the Middle Ages
- 5. Machiavelli (1469–1527): Humanism and Republicanism
- 6. Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679): Contract as the Basis of Political Obligation
- 7. John Locke (1632–1704): Theological Premises and Liberal Limits on Government
- 8. Rousseau (1712–1778): The General Will and Moral and Political Liberty
- 9. Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832): Representative Government as the Maximizer of Utility
- 10. John Stuart Mill (1806–1873): The Benefits of the Liberty of Men and Women for Society
- 11. G. W. F. Hegel (1770–1831): The Social Conditions for a Non-Contractual Theory of Freedom
- 12. Karl Marx (1818–1883): The State and Class Struggle
- Afterword
- Endnotes
- Copyright