Political Philosophy: Government and Human Nature

Political Philosophy: Government and Human Nature features the writing of some of the greatest political philosophers from ancient times to the present, along with concise introductions that highlight and explain the major points of each selection. Readers are introduced to the ideas of Socrates and Plato, Aristotle’s writing on politics and ethics, and the meditations of Marcus Aurelius. They become familiar with Jean Jacques Rousseau’s view of the social contract, and Immanuel Kant’s work on the categorical imperative and perpetual peace. The work of Mary Wollstonecraft addresses the rights of women, and Martin Luther King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail provides insight into more contemporary issues of race and society. Additionally, students explore the philosophies of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, and Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, whose manifesto on communism changed systems of economics and governments. An excellent, accessible introduction to the ideas that have both recorded and shaped history, Political Philosophy: Government and Human Nature is suitable for undergraduate political philosophy courses.