An Introduction to Political Philosophy (Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy)

An Introduction to Political Philosophy (Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy)

Colin Bird

Language: English

Pages: 322

ISBN: 0521544823

Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub


Providing a comprehensive introduction to political philosophy, this 2006 book combines discussion of historical and contemporary figures, together with numerous real-life examples. It ranges over an unusually broad range of topics in the field, including the just distribution of wealth, both within countries and globally; the nature and justification of political authority; the meaning and significance of freedom; arguments for and against democratic rule; the problem of war; and the grounds for toleration in public life. It also offers an accessible, non-technical discussion of perfectionism, utilitarianism, theories of the social contract, and of recently popular forms of critical theory. Throughout, the book challenges readers to think critically about political arguments and institutions that they might otherwise take for granted. It will be a provocative text for any student of philosophy or political science.

The Republic: The Influential Classic

The Art of War

History of Political Philosophy

Machiavelli and Us

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

into a densely populated area. Utilitarians ask: If we are prepared to think this way in such crisis situations, why not in all? Clearly, this unrepentant utilitarian view remains very controversial and requires further defence. (Are there not important differences between crisis situations and ordinary social and political life?) But however matters stand with regard to utilitarianism, common-good arguments more generally are far less vulnerable to the charge that they unacceptably subordinate

objections, it is important to acknowledge that they pit one perfectionist ideal against another. The fact that these ideals can conflict in this way reveals a serious difficulty facing perfectionist approaches to political justification. Claims about human flourishing and about what counts as a genuinely ‘‘good life’’ seem to be as controversial as claims about the proper interpretation of ethical ideals like justice. The same seems true of claims about how we should properly integrate these

for their security. On Hobbes’s view, the state’s right to determine rules of property, rights, and entitlements, to establish court systems to enforce these legal rights and entitlements, to identify and punish offenders, and indeed to perform all its traditional functions (national self-defense, health-and-safety regulations, the provision of important public goods, etc.), is simply an echo of the basic natural right to self-preservation individuals would otherwise retain in the state of

actually interested in; rather, their arguments rest crucially on an account of agents’ real interests À that is, an account of the goods that it is rational for agents to seek, whether or not they are in fact interested in them. Similarly, Hobbes was not very concerned to uncover facts about what people have chosen or willed in the past. Rather, he hoped to bring to light what we ideally ought to will for ourselves, once we properly perceive the alternatives we actually face. But whereas the

would-be central (economic) planners must confront their overwhelming ignorance of the needs, wants, and purposes of the multifarious individuals and organizations engaged in economic and social cooperation of various sorts. Such knowledge of these purposes as can be obtained is widely dispersed and available only to particular agents with close knowledge of the various locales within which they interact with specific others. But it is hubristic, claimed Hayek, to believe that this knowledge

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