A History of Political Theory

Description

This history of political theory is written in the light of the hypothesis that theories of politics are themselves a part of politics. In other words, they do not refer to an external reality but are produced as a normal part of the social milieu in which politics itself has its being. The reflection upon the ends of political action, upon the means of achieving them, upon the possibilities and necessities of political situations, and upon the obligations that political purposes impose, is an intrinsic element of the whole political process. Such thought evolves along with the institutions, the agencies of government, the moral and physical stresses to which it refers and which—one likes at least to believe—it, in some degree, controls.

In this fourth edition, revised by Thomas Thorson, a new first chapter attempts to put the history of political theory in a context both of the evolution of man and of pre-Greek, pre-philosophic though. He has, for the moment, limited what might have been an extensive discussion of the penetration of the non-western world by western political theory to the addition of a section on China and Mao Tse-tung in the chapter on communism. Bibliographies have been updated throughout and a number of new footnotes of references have been added in already existing ones. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the volume has been entirely redesigned and re-set in a format providing much easier access to George Sabine’s great learning and wisdom.

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