Princeton Readings in Political Thought by Cohen, Mitchell Published by Princeton University Press 1st (first) Paperback edition (1996) Paperback

by Nicole Fermon

A thoroughly updated and substantially expanded edition of an acclaimed anthology

This is a thoroughly updated and substantially expanded new edition of one of the most popular, wide-ranging, and engaging anthologies of Western political thinking, one that spans from antiquity to the twenty-first century. In addition to the majority of the pieces that appeared in the original edition, this new edition features exciting new selections from more recent thinkers who address vital contemporary issues, including identity, cosmopolitanism, global justice, and populism. Organized chronologically, the anthology brings together a fascinating array of writings--including essays, book excerpts, speeches, and other documents—that have indelibly shaped how politics and society are understood. Each chronological section and thinker is presented with a brief, lucid introduction, making this a valuable reference as well as reader.

A thoroughly updated and substantially expanded edition of an acclaimed anthology of political thought Features a wide range of thinkers, including Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Augustine, Aquinas, Christine de Pizan, Machiavelli, Luther, Calvin, Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Swift, Hume, Rousseau, Adam Smith, Jefferson, Burke, Olympes de Gouges, Wollstonecraft, Kant, Hegel, Bentham, Mill, de Tocqueville, Frederick Douglass, Lincoln, Marx, Nietzsche, Lenin, John Dewey, Gaetano Mosca, Roberto Michels, Weber, Emma Goldman, Freud, Einstein, Mussolini, Arendt, Hayek, Franklin D. Roosevelt, T. H. Marshall, Orwell, Leo Strauss, de Beauvoir, Fanon, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Havel, Fukuyama, Mitchell Cohen, Habermas, Foucault, Rawls, Nozick, Walzer, Iris Marion Young, Martha Nussbaum, Peter Singer, Amartya Sen, and Jan-Werner Müller Includes brief introductions for each thinker

Genres: Philosophy, Politics, Nonfiction, College, Science, Textbooks, Reference

Paperback

First published March 24, 1996

Reviews

[Nora Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

BOI FUCK THIS DAMN BOOK just bc of the class i had to read it for. i hope some time in life i actually read it bc it is very interesting when i actually understood it. but GODDAMN i hated it most of the time

[River Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

The long slog is over. It was mostly enjoyable. If anything this book inspired me to read more full text writings by many of the authors included. This is rather biased towards traditional Western political thought. It will be interesting to read the third edition in about 20 years.

[Brandt · Rating 4 out of 5]

In modernity, there is the emergence of an explicit naiveté towards political thought. The discussions focus on technical details, and differences of opinions, while leaving out the implicit acceptance of ideological theories without realizing the foundations or the consequences of those ideologies. Simplistic evidence of such an assertion can be witnessed through the interaction of social media platforms that allow anyone to discuss what they believe to be “right” or “wrong”; “better” or “worse”. Concurrently, there is no longer the need to interact with opposing views, to be subject to examination of opinions alternate of one’s own. Realistically, an individual could create a virtual environment of views, opinions, and beliefs that are tailor made to match their own. Perhaps this is a cogent reason to study Political Theory / Philosophy. Would it not be better to understand the underlying reasons for our political beliefs? Would it not be beneficial to study the “roots” of those ideologies?

This is where an anthology, like Princeton Readings in Political Thought: Essential Texts Since Plato provides an excellent source to study Political Theory and Philosophy. In this anthology, editors Mitchell Cohen and Nicole Fermon, have compiled for the reader an engaging selection of political theory that spans in excess of 2,500 years. Focusing on the primary concepts of 44 of the most prominent thinkers in Western political thought, this anthology provides the reader with 55 distinct writings that focus on speculative, investigative, and contemplative aspects of key questions in political theory. These questions viz., “what is power,” “who should rule,” “what obligations does a citizen have,” and “how much control the government should have over a citizen’s private life,” provide plenty of room for discussion, opinion, and observation.

Remarkably, the editors have further subjugated the reading into the categories of “Classical Political Thought,” “The Middle Ages,” “Modern Political Thought,” and “In Our Times”. If read in sequence, this makes for an intriguing exposition into the truth value of earlier political theories, and the unintended consequences of prior patterns of belief. One of the more interesting aspects of the anthology is its ability to trace the development of political questions that arise throughout history. One can easily read how perhaps the theories of Machiavelli, Niccolo, or John Locke, provided the kindling for the fires of Karl Marx, V.I. Lenin, or Emma Goldman. Moreover, the editors decision to include the most abstract thinkers such as Friedrich Nietzsche, G.W.F. Hegel, and Michel Foucault (to only name a few), presents a robust diversity of theory.

My encounter with this material was through the medium of two, semester length, lectures on political theory. Focusing on only a dozen of these thinkers, per semester – and augmenting those writings with bibliographies of the thinkers – along with open discussion, and intense scrutiny of the writings proved to be a fruitful and compelling adventure.

Ultimately, I would like to be able to recommend this anthology to anyone who really is serious about the “roots” of political ideology. I will keep my copy on hand and probably refer to it when discussing the benefits or consequences of various systems of political ideology.

[Steven Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent resource for teachers scheduled to instruct students in the history of political thought; it is a good resource for the students themselves; it is also useful to the general reader who might be interested in exploring the range of political thinking from classical Greek philosophers to more modern (and postmodern) political thinkers (such as Jurgen Habermas, John Rawls, Michel Foucault, and Michael Walzer). Indeed, I have used this as a supplementary textbook in an undergraduate political philosophy course that I once taught.

The volume begins with the Greek thinkers, such as Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle. For good measure, the Roman figure, Cicero, is included. Then, on to the Middle Ages, with exemplars such as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. Modern Political thought? Machiavelli to Hobbes to Locke to Nietzsche. Then, a section entitled "In Our Times," including Weber, Mosca, Pareto, Orwell, Malcolm X, and those already mentioned earlier.

One subtheme is female political thinkers over time, from Christine de Pizan to Marie-Olympes de Gouges to Emma Goldman to Hannah Arendt.

This is a rich book that provides a sampling of a plentitude of political thinkers over the millennia. A wonderful resource.

[Lisa (Harmonybites) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the reader for a Political Science course I took--required for the major--on Ideology. My professor was one of the co-editors of the book, Nicole Fermon. She was one of my favorite professors, despite the fact that we were political opposites--she a self-declared "Trotskyite" and myself an avowed libertarian. I think I can see one of the reasons I loved her just in the diversity of the chosen texts. Yes, as one reviewer notes, it's lacking non-Western thought. You'll find Plato and Aristotle here, but not Confucius or Laozi--or Mao.

But you'll find excerpts of just about every seminal Western thinker--and on all sides of the spectrum (and it doesn't neglect women thinkers.) So you will find Rousseau and Marx and Lenin and Goldman and Fanon and Malcolm X and Rawls and Foucault--darlings of the left. But you'll also find the thinkers important to libertarians and conservatives: Locke, Smith, Publius (pen name for Madison, Hamilton and Jay in the Federalist Papers), Burke, Wollstonecraft, Mill, Tocqueville, Arendt, Orwell, Nozick. So beyond the classroom I recommend it for a grounding in political ideologies in Western culture.

[Amy C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This first semester at my boarding school, my professor who teaches Introductory Political Philosophy blessed all of us fledgling political scholars with this extensive and eclectic anthology. This behemothic manual is akin to a philosopher's bible in that it contains a multitude of eminent philosophical text excerpts as well as notable contributions from renowned historical philosophers, integrated chronologically by time period. This anthology solely concerns Western thought and its radical development over time, as the issue of slavery is relegated to antiquity and novel ideas, such as feminism and populism are briefly introduced and critically scrutinized.
This admirable anthology proved immensely challenging to read at times (Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan caused me a significant amount of agony), but subsequent to perusing the pages of these myriad texts, I can confidently affirm that my knowledge of philosophy is anything but ordinary; I have gleaned crucial insight into a multiplicity of imperative matters, and have altered my perspective accordingly.