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Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction: 97 (Very Short Introductions)
£7.10£8.50 (-16%)
This book introduces readers to the concepts of political philosophy. It starts by explaining why the subject is important and how it tackles basic ethical questions such as ‘how should we live together in society?’ It looks at political authority, the reasons why we need politics at all, the limitations of politics, and whether there are areas of life that shouldn’t be governed by politics. It explores the connections between political authority and justice, a constant theme in political philosophy, and the ways in which social justice can be used to regulate rather than destroy a market economy. David Miller discusses why nations are the natural units of government and whether the rise of multiculturalism and transnational co-operation will change this: will we ever see the formation of a world government?
ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Illustrated edition (26 Jun. 2003), OUP Oxford |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 160 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 0192803956 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0192803955 |
| Dimensions | 17.27 x 1.27 x 10.92 cm |
by Amazon Customer
This book had a Chinese takeaway order written inside XD But other than that it was an acceptable quality for the price and arrived quickly!
by Jahangir
This book hasn’t taught me much I didn’t already learn as a student of law. It is however a valuable introduction to useful general principles of thinking in relation to rights and obligations of individuals and societies.
I would recommend it for the first 1/2 of the book. The second half and to lose its principled way and it the book becomes a sale of the authors political views points.
by Cameron R. Herbert
I purchased this book as I have a roundabout knowledge of political philosophy, having read many of the authors, yet having basic gaps in my knowledge. The book is well written and informative. It should be noted however that, the author explicitly states he wishes to convince the reader of his own views, which are in the vein of British liberalism. This is fine, although I do think that at times, the author does not give a fair defence of views he disagrees with, though I would not necessarily say he constructs a straw man. For example, in the chapter on feminism and multiculturalism, the only philosopher referred to (bizarrely) is John Stuart Mill, everything else is sort of broad. (‘they’, ‘them’, ‘feminists claim’) Poor arguments are dismissed in a fairly unsatisfactory way. I do not consider myself strongly tied to either of these intellectual traditions but feel that I have heard better arguments the author chooses not to include. This occurs throughout, but I felt it was most pronounced in this chapter. Of course, this may be a problem of a book of this length that aims to give a whistle stop tour.
Overall, this is a good introduction to Political Philosophy, that engages the reader in a creative and non-technical way.
by Amazon Kunde
I read this book as somebody without formal education in the subject. Needless the say, though, I covers a topic that many people will find easy to relate to.
Altogether, this was a very pleasant read. Often I found myself longing for more, but this is outside what can be expected from a ‘very short introduction’. Miller does a great job explaining key concepts in the field. I do agree however, that even though he tries to highlight multiple opinions, he does advocate a liberal view. I personally found this not an issue at all, but other readers might find it annoying.
The only serious criticism I have is the age of the book (published 2003). While one could easily argue that this subject does not change particularly quickly, I do believe there have been many noteworthy (political) events in the past 15 years (in particular US politics, recent events in the UK, the refugee crisis and the Syria war) that potentially would lead one the review some his points, but certainly would have been very interesting to be included as examples.
by Edward M. Sedgwick
This book is a good short introduction. Do not expect depth, its virtue is its brevity. The computer is asking for four more words, that is eleven.
by J. Eade
Not being exactly new to the ideas of political philosophy I found certain aspects of this book somewhat basic particularly regarding the ethical considerations of good governance and justice. However I have now had a lot of gaps filled and my ignorance enlightened in other areas.
Arguments for and against different points of view from across the whole political spectrum were presented and discussed without presuming infallible wisdom on the part of the author but yet still with a candid attitude and no attempt to mask his own views. Indeed the book ends with a rough outline of the author’s ideas of how we might improve society as it currently stands.
I would thoroughly recommend this book to all those new to the subject but also to anyone with a healthy critical outlook even if they feel they have a good idea of how society should be run already as you might find some ideas you had not given fair consideration to before.
by LaM
Pocket sized summary of lots of political theories. I bought it for a philosophy evening class to get me up to speed and I found it very helpful. Nicely written, zips along, not heavy going at all, but sufficient detail for a beginner.
by Adam
I find every A Very Short Introduction I read really opens my up my mind to new thoughts and allows me to make connections to things I’ve previously read and maybe not understood. This one is no different, very concise and very interesting.