History of Political Philosophy
Leo Strauss,Joseph Cropsey | 1987-11-30 00:00:00 | University Of Chicago Press | 980 | History of Ideas
This volume provides an unequaled introduction to the thought of chief contributors to the Western tradition of political philosophy from classical Greek antiquity to the twentieth century. Written by specialists on the various philosophers, this third edition has been expanded significantly to include both new and revised essays.
Reviews
Most of the political philosophy surveys I've found tend to revolve around around subject matters and will tell you how all the major players thought about that particular issue. This book feels more old school in the sense that the editors chose to show the major players' most influential ideas in political philosophy (to show all their ideas would produce a book at least ten times as big), in chronological order. You will not learn everything there is to know about political philosophy from this book, but I believe that it will give you the most bang for you're buck if you only plan on reading one or two books on the subject, or if you are looking for an amazing introduction to get you started. Biggest problem with it that anyone can see off the bat is that there are a few people in the book that could have been taken out and replaced by some more notable and influential players, at least Rawls and Nozick should have made it.
Reviews
This book illustrates so well how historical thinkers wrestled with key issues including political, philosophical, religious and cultural aspects. It's these intersections and inflection points that enable us to better understand how interrelated these areas are today. These editors have added of wealth of substantive insights that are not easily found in one book. I highly recommend reading this; I've spent years reading it and still learning....Then go read Ken Wilbur - Marriage of Sense and Soul and you will be amazed. R. Sanford
Reviews
This is a great book, it is a wealth of the history of Western Culture. I have marked it up and still working through this beefy book. In my political Science classes we will read a text and I will go home and read their section in this book; it has been a great place to get the feel of a thinker before reading the source material.
Reviews
This book is great but only if you have a knowledge of the books and thoughts of philosophers inside well beforehand. That is because the book examines the thoughts -say- hermeneutically. Every now and then you will see references to philosophers' books and most of the time -if it is someone whom you just want to have a general information- it makes you get angry.
As a result, do not buy this book just to treat it like a dictionary. It has more than that and all in all it is an academic book. Great source for university studies and essays but surely not for dummies.
Reviews
This is the best philosophy (not just political) overview I have found. The essays for each philosopher are several pages long and cover all aspects of the philosopher's thought. I have owned this book for years, and I still find myself going back to it over any other philosophy book.
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