Western Political Thought: From the Ancient Greeks to Modern Times, 2nd Edition by Pearson, 2nd Edition

Introduction

READING CLASSICAL TEXTS OF POLITICAL THOUGHT: METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES

In 1950, there were seventy-three sovereign countries in the world; by 1968, within a span of less than twenty years, some forty-nine newly independent nations had been added to the map of the world.¹ Therein lies the root of our attraction, some might even say, the root of our fatal attraction, for politics. Containing the tantalizing and enticing whiff of the new, politics enlarges our sense of self. Through politics, we can create new stories, or new worlds that we can now investigate. The Age of Discovery, with all its excitement of finding new lands, may be over, but with politics, the reaching out to the new remains an ever present possibility. In politics, ...