Political Thought from Plato to NATO

by Plato, Brian Redhead (Introduction)

Book by

Genres: Philosophy, Politics, Nonfiction, History

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 14, 1984

About the author

Plato (Greek: Πλάτων), born Aristocles (c. 427 – 348 BC), was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms. He raised problems for what became all the major areas of both theoretical philosophy and practical philosophy, and was the founder of the Platonic Academy, a philosophical school in Athens where Plato taught the doctrines that would later become known as Platonism.
Plato's most famous contribution is the theory of forms (or ideas), which has been interpreted as advancing a solution to what is now known as the problem of universals. He was decisively influenced by the pre-Socratic thinkers Pythagoras, Heraclitus, and Parmenides, although much of what is known about them is derived from Plato himself.
Along with his teacher Socrates, and Aristotle, his student, Plato is a central figure in the history of philosophy. Plato's entire body of work is believed to have survived intact for over 2,400 years—unlike that of nearly all of his contemporaries. Although their popularity has fluctuated, they have consistently been read and studied through the ages. Through Neoplatonism, he also greatly influenced both Christian and Islamic philosophy. In modern times, Alfred North Whitehead famously said: "the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato."

Reviews

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer that this might be the wrong book because the number of pages doesn’t line up but I can’t find the book I was reading.

I took an intro to legal philosophy course and found the subject matter interesting so picked up this book to learn more. It’s organized into a series of essays by different authors covering most of the major political thinkers in the western world. The scope is limited to the lineage of Greek, then Western European, then American philosophers which I understand is the most pertinent for English-speaking audiences but some variety would have been nice.

Otherwise, easy to read and covers a broad range of subject matter fairly quickly. I liked the essay format because it made sure only the most important points of each profile were covered, however it did make the book a big disjointed and often the authors would make reference to subject matter that wasn’t covered in previous chapters which led to requiring some extra research on my part.

An interesting takeaway is how instrumental Christianity has been in developing our current political thought, even though our society is largely secular today. The basic ideas of Mill and even Marx have lineages in the Christian thought of Calvin and Aquinas. This isn’t a topic I’m well-versed in so it was interesting to learn about! Would be interested to see how this same lineage plays out in majority Muslim, Buddhist, etc. parts of the world.

[Reece Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a collection of essays (all by different authors) that serve both as biography and ideological summary for various political thinkers. The essays cover Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, St. Aquinas, Machiavelli, Jean Calvin, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Rousseau, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, and two essays on modern thinkers that cover Bertrand Russell, RH Tawney, John Rawls, Herbert Marcuse, and Hannah Arendt.

This collection was a great introduction to political theory and, in general, the theories of the thinkers listed above. However, the way the book framed itself (as looking at the answer to the question 'Why should I obey the State') kind of missed the mark as to what the book actually was. I think this question was definitely addressed, but it was not the central point of the collection. Rather, it was that political thought has built on itself over the centuries and it seems to have begun out of a search for justice. In addition, some essays were worlds better than others in terms of summarizing or giving concrete examples of each thinker's ideas, but all essays were incredibly readable and accessible to a layperson. I think for me the purpose of the book was as a stepping stone to some basic ideas in political theory. Would I base a thesis on anything this book says? No. But it would definitely be helpful in directing you where to look.

Honestly, the only reason this didn't get a 4 was because certain essays (namely Machiavelli and Marx) seemed particularly devoid of a good ideological summary and instead were mostly biographical with vague assertions about their beliefs (at least as compared to essays on, say, Plato and Hobbes).

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good read but can sometimes be a bit inaccessible to people who are not used to some of the extensive vocabulary used. Overall a good read.

[Carys · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction to lots of political and philosophical thought. Written in a concise and easy to understand manner.

[Ed Fernyhough · Rating 4 out of 5]

can't stay away for long

[Yukinosita Yukino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Methodologies are extremely old fashioned (e.g. the awful intro by Brian Redhead, and majority of the essays). 1) They introduces thinkers by laying out their supposed doctrine / system, as if all their writings can be reduced to elucidating such a system 2) ahistorical, assumes they're dealing with the same, unchanging problems / concepts throughout ages. Very much discredited after Skinner's Meaning and Understanding essay. But each piece is short and accessible, it's nevertheless a good intro as long as you read between the lines. The highlights are chapters on Hobbes and Locke (by two Cambridge school scholars, predictably), ones on Augustine, Rousseau, Smith are decent; ones on Machiavelli, Mill, Marx and modern liberals are terrible

[Justin]

This book has a lot of really good information. I read it because I was interested in how all of the different political systems we currently have were put into place, and what sort of people were associated with those different identities. I would reccomend it if you want to know. Don't read it just because you're bored, it is quite a bit to digest.

[chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

a good book that a gives a basic understanding of philospher's and philosophy of various sorts in a couple of weeks to those with an interest in philosophy; it also is a book where the main philosphies of the main philospher's is outlined and explained in interesting contexts. lots of these examples can be compared in todays society.

[Steve Dewey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A useful introduction which I shall keep on my shelves for reference, but I found its structure too thin -- not enough meat on the bones, and no real feeling of how this all connects to the world around us now...