Minerva’s Owl: The Tradition of Western Political Thought

by Jeffrey B. Abramson

Informal in tone yet serious in content, this book serves as a lively and accessible guide for readers discovering the tradition of political thought that dates back to Socrates and Plato. Because the arguments of the great philosophers are nearly eternal, even those long schooled on politics will find that this book calls on recurring questions about morality and power, justice and war, the risk of democracy, the necessity for evil, the perils of tolerance, and the meaning of happiness. Jeffrey Abramson argues politics with the classic writers and draws the reader into a spirited conversation with contemporary examples that illustrate the enduring nature of political dilemmas. As the discussions deepen, the voices of Abramson's own teachers, and of the students he has taught, enter into the mix, and the book becomes a tribute not just to the great philosophers but also to the special bond between teacher and student.

As Hegel famously noted, referring to the Roman goddess Minerva, her owl brought back wisdom only at dusk, when it was too late to shine light on actual politics. Abramson reminds us that there are real political problems to confront, and in a book filled with grace and passion, he captures just how exciting serious learning can be.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics, Nonfiction, History

400 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2009

Reviews

[Tanner Hudnall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was written by my gov professor who taught a class that I loved, so i’m biased in favor of it. He does a great job of explicitly describing political philosophy as a dialogue, but then he also structures his chapters as a dialogue: explaining the original idea in detail, discussing counter-examples, explaining how those counter-examples affect one’s understanding of the original idea, etc.

[Scott Hotes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Readable introduction to political philosophy. Abramson does an admirable job of distilling the fundamental concepts along with their development through the historical "canon". Some attempt is made to make the work more current through numerous examples of how certain topics are received by students he has taught the subject to over the years. I found these less compelling but not really distracting. After years of teaching the subject he almost comes across as apologetic as to whether or not these ideas and their historic development have real relevance to the modern practice of politics. I would likely have been somewhat disillusioned if that had been my goal here.

Abramson admits to having Rousseau as a favorite, and these chapters certainly comes across as a highlight. There is an interesting description of how Rousseau reinterpreted the initial development of the "social contract", whereby landowners perpetrated possibly the greatest trick ever played on the underclass. The concept being that before the popularization of so-called property rights, landowners were compelled to defend their land themselves. The social contract instilled the defense of property rights as a fundamental human right, and now the government, with support of the underclass, could defend the land for them. This slight of hand has a modern parallel with the recurrent question of how middle class Republicans in the U.S. appear to vote against their best interests in voting against tax increases for the wealthy.

[Ramil Kazımov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plato-dan Marxa kadar siyaset felsefesine katkı yapan filozofların incelendiyi bir siyaset felsefesine giriş kitabı. Kitap oldukça okunaklı bir dille yazılmış, çevirmen de emeğinin hakkını vermiş. Yazarın bazı şahsi düşüncelerine katılmadığımı belirteyim. Gerçi pek fazla siyaset felsefesi okumuş bulunmuyorum ama küresel siyasete dair bir çok kital okumuş bulunuyorum. Uluslararası politika ve siyaset felsefesi gerçi birbirinden farkli şeylerdir ama uluslararası politikanın siyaset felsefesinden kaynaklandığını belirtmek lazım. Yine de bana göre felsefesini bilmeden de uluslararası düzeni anlamak mümkün. Ama benimki merak ya. İşte bu yüzden okumaya karar verdim. Ve çok sevdiğim bir kitap oldu. Yazar Platonun Devleti, Hobbesin Leviathanı, John Stuart Millin Özgürlük Üzerine, Machiavellinin Prensi ve başka bir kaç okumak istediğim kitapları analiz etmiş. Sırasıyla hepsini okuyacağın tabii.
Bu kitabı siyaset felsefesine ilgi duyan herkese tavsiye ederim 😎

[Sarah Ryburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent tool—accessible and engaging. A clear reference for refreshing my mind and reasoning around these principle thinkers in the history of western political thought and the ideas that have and continue to shape modern political life.

[Shelby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly readable, engaging introduction to the history of the Western political canon. Recommended reading for students who haven't taken a similar class before. A bit unbalanced in terms of focal points, but still a great piece of work.

[Mehmet Ali KIZILASLAN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ağır ağır, özümsenerek okunacak harika bir kitap. Konuyla ilgilenenler kesinlikle okumalı..

[Don MacLeod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Graceful and lucid discussion introducing the basic issues of political philosophy

[Perihan.Abdelgawad]

For my western political thought class💀🥹🥲

[T · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very decent introduction and overview of Western political theory. Unfortunately, for a book which uses a quote from Hegel as the title, it's unforgivable that the author dismisses approaching Hegel directly as too difficult, and instead interprets Hegel through the notes of Karl Marx. This curious means of understanding a concept via criticism was a huge disappointment, and I would urge readers that are truly interested in "Minerva's Owl" to look elsewhere.

[Jim Twombly · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging discussion of the major thinkers in Western Political Thought. Easily grasped by undergraduates and those not enrolled in courses on political thought/theory/philosophy.

Rereading as prep for my Political Thought class this fall.

[Jim Twombly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, easily accessible treatment of many of the major philosophers. Students seemed to enjoy reading about political thought from Abramson's work.