Download Free Interpreting Modern Political Philosophy Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online Interpreting Modern Political Philosophy and write the review.

The interpretive literature in the history of political thought is now vast, complex and esoteric, posing as much a barrier to the understanding of the undergraduate student as it offers assistance. This unique and innovative text provides the student with a guide through this maze of argument. Each chapter sets out the major positions and debates that surround the texts of key thinkers, analyzes major problems of interpreting them, examines the sources of disagreement, and evaluates the different interpretations in terms of their strengths, weaknesses and contributions to scholarship.
How are we to understand past political thinkers? Is it a matter simply of reading their texts again and again? Do we have to relate past texts of political thought to the contexts in which ideas were composed and in which the aims of past thinkers were formulated? Or should past political theories be deconstructed so as to uncover not what their authors maintain, but what the texts reveal? In this book, theories of interpreting past political thinkers are examined and the interpretive methods of a range of theories are reviewed, including those of Hegel, Marx, Oakeshott, Collingwood, the Cambridge School, Foucault, Derrida and Gadamer. The application of these theories of interpretation to notable modern political theorists, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Marx, Bentham, Mill, Nietzsche and Beauvoir is then used as a way of understanding modern political thought and of assessing interpretive theories of past political thought. The result is a book which sees the history of modern political thought as more than a procession of political theories but rather as a reflection on the meaning of past political thought and its interpretation. It provides a way of reading the history of modern political thought, in which the question of interpretation matters both for understanding how we interpret the past but also for considering what it means to undertake political thinking.
This study of Claude Lefort offers an account of Lefort's accomplishment - its unique merits, its relation to political philosophy within the Continental tradition, and its great relevance today.
Theorists interested in learning more about any given interpretive approach are often required to navigate a dizzying array of sources, with no clear sense of where to begin. The prose of many primary sources is often steeped in dense and technical argot that novices find intimidating or even impenetrable. Interpretation in Political Theory provide students of political theory a single introductory reference guide to major approaches to interpretation available in the field today. Comprehensive and clearly written, the book includes: A historical and theoretical overview that situates the practice of interpretation within the development of political theory in the twentieth century. Chapters on Straussian esotericism, historical approaches within the Cambridge School of interpretation, materialist approaches associated with Marxism, the critical approaches associated with varieties of feminism, Greimassian semiotics, Foucaultian genealogy, the negative dialectics of Theodor Adorno, deconstruction as exemplified by Jacques Derrida and Paul de Man, and Lacanian psychoanalysis. An exposition of the theoretical and disciplinary background of each approach, the tools and techniques of interpretation it uses, its assumptions about what counts as a relevant text in political theory, and what it considers to be the purpose or objective of reading in political theory. A reading of Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan to illustrate how each approach can be applied in practice. A list of suggestions for further reading that will guide those interested in pursuing more advanced study. An invaluable textbook for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and even seasoned scholars of political theory interested in learning more about different interpretive approaches.
The essays in this volume provide a state-of-the-art overview of the central elements of Hobbes's political philosophy and the ways in which they can be interpreted. The volume's contributors offer their own interpretations of Hobbes's philosophical method, his materialism, his psychological theory and moral theory, and his views on benevolence, law and civil liberties, religion, and women. Hobbes's ideas of authorization and representation, his use of the 'state of nature', and his reply to the unjust 'Foole' are also critically analyzed. The essays will help readers to orient themselves in the complex scholarly literature while also offering groundbreaking arguments and innovative interpretations. The volume as a whole will facilitate new insights into Hobbes's political theory, enabling readers to consider key elements of his thought from multiple perspectives and to select and combine them to form their own interpretations of his political philosophy.
As we approach the end of the century and reflect on the large number of wars and political incidents that continue to rage throughout the world, it is imperative to understand the background and implication of the political philosophies that instigate many of these conflicts. Hudelson's book is a brief introduction to the major topics and issues in political philosophy from the Enlightenment to Postmodernism. Within the scope of ten short chapters, Hudelson presents both the historical background of, and a systematic discussion of contemporary issues relating to the major traditions within political philosophy, making this the ideal introduction to the topic for students and interested readers.
This anthology offers students a carefully edited selection of the most influential and enduring interpretations of key political theorists. There are sections on Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Burke, Bentham, Mill and Marx. Each section includes classic articles by leading critics, a substantial introduction by the editors, and a guide to further reading. A general introduction to the volume as a whole is also provided. This is an up-to-date and extensive guide to the key issues at stake in the interpretative debate, and it provides an invaluable text for students and teachers of modern political thought.
In this volume one of the leading political theorists of our time addresses what he believes is the major task of political theory: showing human beings how they have good reason to act in the historical situation in which they find themselves. Dunn argues that humans today depend more abjectly and extensively than ever before on the capacity of some of our number for skillful political action. There are many reasons for this dependence: closely linked nuclear-threat and financial systems, massive trade flows that sustain or imperil the well-being of all modern populations, and the awesome scale of the unintended ecological effects of human production. Why has modern political theory failed to relate these factors systematically to one another and to provide people with adequate reasons for action? To answer this twin query, Dunn brilliantly deploys the resources of the historical development of Western political thinking, in counterpoint with some of the main lessons of international political economy. The concluding essay reasserts that the classical virtue of prudence has a central place in contemporary politics. The conditions of modern politics, it maintains, require the exercise of prudence not merely by political, military, and economic leaders, but also by the populace at large. Overall, this selection of Dunn's most influential work of the past decade reflects his remarkable range of interestsincluding Locke's ideological importance, the nature of trust in politics, rights, liberty, responsibility at a national level, postcolonial African politics, and political community. The book will be required reading for students from a variety of disciplines. Originally published in 1990. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
This book introduces readers to analytical interpretation of seminal writings and thinkers in the history of political thought, including Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Bible, Thomas Aquinas, Machiavelli, Bacon, Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Tocqueville, Marx, and Nietzsche. Chronologically arranged, each chapter in the book is devoted to the work of a single thinker. The selected texts together engage with 2000 years of debate on fundamental questions including: what is the purpose of political life? What is justice? What is a right? Do human beings have rights? What kinds of human virtues are there and which regimes best promote them? The difficulty of accessing the texts included in this volume is the result not only of their subtlety but also of the dramatic change in everyday life. The authors shed light on the texts' vocabulary and complexities of thought and help students understand and weigh the various interpretations of each philosopher's thought.