File Size: 1.25
Description
Political Philosophy is a comprehensive introduction to the major thinkers and topics in political philosophy. It explores the philosophical traditions which have formed and continue to inform our political judgement's. Dudley Knowles introduces the ideas of key political thinkers including Hobbes, Locke, Marx and Mill and influential contemporary thinkers such as Berlin, Rawls and Nozick.The individual chapters discuss and analyse the ideas of utilitarianism, liberty, rights, justice, obligation and democracy. As well as outlining central problems in political philosophy, Knowles encourages the reader to critically engage with all the issues discussed.
Political Philosophy is written in a fresh and easily readable style and is ideally suited to students taking introductory courses in political theory and philosophy as well as the general reader.
Content:-
Preface
1. Introduction
The methods of ethics and political philosophy
A methodological impasse?
Reflective equilibrium
Political philosophy
2. Utilitarianism
The foundations of utilitarianism
Formal theory
Value theory
Utilitarian political philosophy
Liberty
Rights
Distributive justice
The state
Conclusion
3. Liberty
Introduction
Liberty, liberalism, libertarianism
Analysis
Isaiah Berlin: negative and positive liberty
The republican theory of freedom
The value of freedom
Freedom of action
Autonomy
Moral freedom
Toleration
Free states and free citizens
Democratic freedom
Civil liberty
Mill’s harm principle
Supplementary principles
Conclusion
4. Rights
Introduction
Analysis and definition
Preliminaries
Hohfeld’s classification
The justification of rights
Lockean themes: modes of ownership
Autonomy again
Rights and interests
Rights and utility
The no-theory theory
5. Distributive justice
Entitlement
Nozick’s theory of entitlement
F.A. Hayek
Private property
Human needs
Equality of what?
John Rawls’s theory of justice
Justice as fairness
The Original Position
The principles of justice
Desert
The communitarian challenge
6 Political obligation
The problems
Anarchism and communitarianism
Consent and contract
Original contracts
Express consent
Tacit consent
Quasi-consent
Hypothetical consent and hypothetical contract
The benefits of good government
The principle of fairness
Gratitude and good government
Conclusion
7 Democracy
Introduction
Rousseau: freedom, equality and the general will
Direct and representative democracy
Democracy and majority tyranny
Democracy, deliberation and disagreement
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Author Details
"Dudley Knowles" is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Glasgow. He is the author of the Routledge Philosophy GuideBook to Hegel and the Philosophy of Right.
Fundamentals of Philosophy Series Editor: "John Shand"
No comments:
Post a Comment