Political Thought

Oxford Readers

by Michael E. Rosen (Editor), Jonathan Wolff (Editor)

Human beings live together in societies which, by their very nature, give rise to institutions governing the behavior and freedom of individuals. This raises important questions about how these institutions ought to function, and the extent to which actual systems of government succeed or fail in meeting these ideals.
This Oxford Reader contains 140 key writings on political thought, covering issues about human nature and its relation to society, the extent to which the powers of the State are justified, the tension between liberty and rights, and the way resources should be distributed. Topics such as international relations, minority rights, democracy, socialism, and conservatism are also discussed by contributors ranging from Plato and Aristotle to Foucault, Isaiah Berlin, and Martin Luther King.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics, Reference, Nonfiction, Textbooks, Essays

448 pages, Paperback

First published December 16, 1999

About the author

Michael E. Rosen is a British political philosopher who is active in the traditions of analytic philosophy and continental European intellectual thought. He is currently a professor at Harvard University.

Rosen holds a B.A. in philosophy, awarded in 1974, and a D.Phil. awarded in 1980, both from Balliol College, Oxford. Prior to joining Lincoln College, Oxford, he served as a lecturer in politics at Magdalen College, Oxford, from 1980 to 1981, an assistant professor of philosophy at Harvard from 1981 to 1982, a special fellow in politics at Merton College, Oxford, from 1982 to 1985, and a lecturer in philosophy at University College London from 1986 to 1990.

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Reviews

[Nika]

Reading this felt like a torture the whole time.

[leisce ᓚᘏᗢ]

Read this for a class. It’s extremely dense and at times torturous to wade through. However, it was useful in deepening my understand of political theory.

[Nic]

Full of short excerps from a variety of thinkers through the ages on many political topics. For me, the excerps are too short and I find myself wondering what the full context of the texts are. They are simply not helpful enough on their own, and I would do better with a library at my disposal.

[Tom Robbins]

An amazing resource for anyone studying politics-relative subjects. It provides a one-stop guide to all the major political concepts such as the state, democracy, liberty, rights, freedom, economic justice and so on. It contains all the major theorists through history and is made up of very short extracts from all the well-known works. It's great for getting a grasp of key concepts from different critical perspectives all in one place.

[Kelsey]

Not for fun, but makes you think.

[Thomas]

Plenty of texts and resources.

[Tyler Branston]

Good overview of political thought and philosophy.