Table of Content

1. CLASSICAL AND MEDIEVAL POLITICAL THEORY.
1. Socrates.
2. Plato.
3. Aristotle.
4. Cicero.
5. St. Augustine.
6. St. Thomas Aquinas.
2. MODERN POLITICAL THEORY.
7. Machiavelli.
8. Hobbes.
9. Locke.
10. Rousseau.
3. CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL THEORY.
11. Conservatism.
12. Classical Liberalism.
13. Modern Liberalism.
14. Marxism.
15. The Age of Ideology.

Salient Features

• Uses a student-oriented approach that is accessible, yet does not over simplify difficult concepts and issues.
• Features thinkers that represent most of the important theorists in the Western tradition.
• Organizes theorists historically — from pre-Socratic philosophers to those of the contemporary era — with general historical context provided for each.
• Explores an overarching theme throughout —the changing relationships of ethics and politics in Western political thought from Socrates to the present time.
• Adds a chapter on Cicero that includes a substantial introduction to the major Hellenistic political philosophies as well as an historical overview of the events surrounding the rise of the Roman Empire.
• Expands coverage of St. Augustine to include a discussion of some of the key political ideas of the Roman Empire as well as a more detailed analysis of St. Augustine's theocratic theory of the state
• Briefly describes John of Salisbury (in the St. Thomas chapter) important as a late medieval pre-Aristotelian thinker.
• Adds a section on patriarchy and the political exclusion of women in Locke's theory of contract.
• Concludes with an analysis of contemporary political ideologies — from Burke through Marx and the rise of modern nationalism.
• NEW—updates the chapter on Marx to reflect the demise of Soviet and East European communism and the current “death of communism” debate
• Cites classic, mainstream sources in footnotes and bibliography.