What do you think?
Rate this book
On the Edge of Anarchy
This book completes A. John Simmons's exploration and development of Lockean moral and political philosophy, a project begun in The Lockean Theory of Rights (Princeton paperback edition, 1994). Here Simmons discusses the Lockean view of the nature of, grounds for, and limits on political relations between persons.
Originally published in 1993.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Originally published in 1993.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
- GenresPhilosophyPolitics
312 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
2 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 18, 2011
As is usually the case with Simmons, this is a very clearly written and thoughtful book. In it, he carefully lays out his understanding of Locke's state of nature, the conditions by which political associations can (for Locke) be made, the conditions under which we can claim that political authorities have gone too far, and what this interpretation would mean with respect to our attitudes towards government. (spoiler alert: Simmons is a philosophical anarchist)
This book led me to understand many of Locke's positions in a different and very interesting light. I'm not a Locke scholar, so I don't know how Simmons' analysis holds up to his rivals'. To his credit, Simmons quite often points out and very briefly explains contrasting positions in footnotes. I would expect that Locke scholars would find this style very useful when assessing Simmons' arguments. That said, the frequent and at times very long footnotes do make the text more disjointed for readers like me. Worse yet, the footnotes are neither all explanatory, nor all mere references - the mix of the two left me annoyed at feeling as though I had to break my concentration in order to look down, only to see a series of authors and page numbers. Some of the longer footnotes surely could have been integrated within the text itself.
But seriously, a really good book.
This book led me to understand many of Locke's positions in a different and very interesting light. I'm not a Locke scholar, so I don't know how Simmons' analysis holds up to his rivals'. To his credit, Simmons quite often points out and very briefly explains contrasting positions in footnotes. I would expect that Locke scholars would find this style very useful when assessing Simmons' arguments. That said, the frequent and at times very long footnotes do make the text more disjointed for readers like me. Worse yet, the footnotes are neither all explanatory, nor all mere references - the mix of the two left me annoyed at feeling as though I had to break my concentration in order to look down, only to see a series of authors and page numbers. Some of the longer footnotes surely could have been integrated within the text itself.
But seriously, a really good book.
Displaying 1 of 1 review