Great Political Theories V.2: A Comprehensive Selection of the Crucial Ideas in Political Philosophy from the French Revolution to Modern Times (Harper Perennial Modern Thought)

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This carefully selected compilation of the significant writings of the great political philosophers, scientists, and thinkers has long been an invaluable guide to the general reader as well as to the serious student of history, political science, and government. Such essential forces as Revolution, Idealism, and Nationalism are examined in detail and expounded by their leading exponents. Professor Curtis has written running commentary that places the extracts and their authors in the sequence of modern history.

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About the Author

Michael Curtis is professor emeritus of political science at Rutgers University and has taught at several other institutions, including Yale University and Cornell University. He has written and edited more than fifteen books in the fields of comparative politics, political theory, and Middle East affairs.

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Great Political Theories

Name: Great Political Theories V.2: A Comprehensive Selection of the Crucial Ideas in Political Philosophy from the French Revolution to Modern Times (Harper Perennial Modern Thought)
Brand: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
SKU: U0061351377
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Rating: 4.5 (8 reviews)

A Comprehensive Selection of the Crucial Ideas in Political Philosophy from the French Revolution to Modern TimesBy M. Curtis

Harper Perennial Modern Classics

Chapter One

Section One

Rousseau, Condorcet, and Kant

Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) is the first great modern political philosopher. He is a watershed in political theory, not only because of his preoccupation with ideas and themes that are of contemporary significance, but also because all modern political thought, in a sense, derives from and has been influenced by him. His philosophy is highly personal, an expression of his own fierce insistence on independence and liberty, but at the same time, paradoxical and complex. His inconsistencies can be fully explained only in the light of his own psychological history and emotional experiences. Rousseau was courageous and sincere, sensual and sensitive. A native of Geneva, he admired the qualitiesasceticism, puritanism, insistence on right rules-associated with that city. He dedicated his Discourse on Inequality to the citizens of Geneva. When, in 1762, the city disapproved of his Émile, he renounced his citizenship and attacked the city council in Letters from the Mountain. Deeply moved by injustice, and concerned about any degradation of man, he was intensely individualistic and independent. Though he lived off the patronage of wealthy women for some years, he refused to attend the court when ordered to after the successful production of his operetta. He was a man who loved mankind, but who quarreled with all his friends and was unable to get on with his fellow men. The philosophes attacked him during his life, as Voltaire had done in Le Sentiment des Citoyens, and after his death as Diderot did in his Essai sur la Vie de Sénèque le philosophe.

No one fully escapes the dazzling appeal of Rousseau. "He said nothing new, but set everything on fire," said Madame de Stael. His emotional style, as well as his ideas, produced a considerable impact both on thought and on social behavior: on the behavior of Marie Antoinette playing at being a shepherdess in her Versailles garden as on the political ideas of Marat and Robespierre. His novels led fashionable women sometimes to dreams of romantic love, sometimes to the need for feeling deeply toward their children. His denunciation of luxury and of artificiality, his opposition to sophistication and his praise of simplicity, his appeal for natural behavior and education, his emphasis on natural impulses, all contributed to this impact. Different and conflicting schools of thought claim Rousseau within their inheritance. He has been seen as an individualist, federalist, democrat, advocate of world peace, romanticist, patriot, prophet of totalitarian democracy, all with some justification. He has contributed to the image of General de Gaulle in France - the contemporary embodiment of the Rousseau legislator-and to current views on politics in the newer nations of the world.

Throughout Rousseau's writings, there are remarkable insights. Some of his writing, on institutional arrangements and educational practice - the Project of a Constitution for Corsica, the Considerations on the Government of Poland, the educational advice in Emile, show both his wisdom and moderation. But, like Plato, he concerned himself with significant issues-the nature of morality, the definition of and the need for liberty, the belief in human integrity, the right kind of life, the correct kind of educational system both for individual and social needs, the return to a natural life, the creation of a stable consensus in society, the reconciliation of individual liberty with the need for the right rules, the manner in which man could participate politically in an effective way.

In the Social Contract of 1762, Rousseau made his most influential contributions to theory with his concept of the general will, the real source of legitimate authority. To this he added the need for a legislator to found the political system, a civil religion to bind the community together and an educational system which would create citizens and make them patriotic, both through teaching and games. It is these ideas that have led to the attacks on Rousseau by recent writers as the herald of totalitarian democracy, based on the premise of a sole exclusive truth in politics which necessarily leads to a system of coercion. The most disputed of Rousseau's concepts is the idea that it is just and proper to compel an individual to obey if he thinks he has an interest different from the common interest as expressed in the General Will, which is always right and tends to the public advantage. Coercion is justified by reference to the common good; an individual "may be forced to be free." But it is the Rousseau informed by an underlying spirit of equality, aware of the need for a unified, free community, for an economic system which would introduce approximate equality, for a system of morality which would allow men to possess a sense of purpose and for a political system in which all can act freely and responsibly, who has been a more significant influence on liberal thought.

Condorcet

The Marquis Antoine Nicholas de Condorcet (1743-1794) was the most eloquent of the late eighteenth-century advocates of the ideas of progress, rationalism and liberalism. His Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind, written in 1793-4 while he was in hiding for fear of the guillotine, was a plea for emancipation, for social improvement and for better education based on humane, liberal principles. For Condorcet, the acquisition of knowledge had always led to the improvement of man, and history was therefore the story of the progress of the human mind. In all the nine epochs of history there had been a cumulative increase in knowledge, and the growth of truth and science over error and superstition. The ninth period-the era of Descartes and the French Revolution-was notable for political concepts such as reason, equality and rights, as well as for scientific advance. The next period would be one of limitless advance, with both man and his environment improving indefinitely on the basis of social cooperation. The tragic fate of Condorcet himself was sadly to belie his optimistic picture of the future. But his work remains as testament to the belief in universal human progress which the historian J. B. Bury called the animating and controlling idea of Western civilization.

Continues...
Excerpted from Great Political Theoriesby M. Curtis Copyright &copy 2008 by M. Curtis. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Review:

4.6 out of 5

92.50% of customers are satisfied

5.0 out of 5 stars Good purchase

G.V. · March 1, 2013

It was in good shape and sometimes running into some highlighted sections in the book is more helpful than not. I'm happy with my purchase.

5.0 out of 5 stars High Quality

A.C. · January 3, 2017

Very good quality excerpts from many of the most influential political theorists

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars

K.R. · December 27, 2017

Comprehensive.

4.0 out of 5 stars Good recopilation of information

C.R. · November 20, 2014

Good recopilation of information. I would like it to be more clear about theories. The books helps you to hace aquick review of political history but is not so good for used as text guide while teaching

5.0 out of 5 stars The Last Two-Plus Centuries of Political Philosophy

E.M. · December 29, 2015

The first volume of "The Great Political Theories" covered the more than two millennia from Ancient Greece to the Enlightenment. Since the late eighteenth century, ideas in political philosophy have been so numerous and wide-ranging that they easily fill this second volume of the series.Some of the most eminent thinkers of modern times such as Kant, Burke, Hegel, Smith, Mill, Nietzsche, and numerous others appear in Volume Two. Each themed chapter contains a good introduction to the material, and then selections of the philosophers' works are presented so that the reader can read their ideas in their own words.The selections here offer arguments in regard to controversies that have been ongoing in the West in the last two-plus centuries: individualism versus collectivism, continuity versus change, industrialism versus anti-industrialism, rationalism versus romanticism, socialism versus capitalism, authoritarianism versus freedom of thought and speech, classical liberalism versus aristocratic conservatism (there is definitely a reason why, unlike in Britain and Canada, conservatives in the United States are not referred to as Tories), and elitism versus both egalitarianism and anarchism.Other topics debated in these chapters include nationalism, the nature of the state, the nature of political leadership, economic issues and policies, and whether man is an end or merely a means to an end. While certainly not endorsing them, "The Great Political Theories" also does not ignore writings from the dark side of the last two centuries, including those that advocated for what became the totalitarian systems of the twentieth century.Scientific discoveries, psychology, sociology, and religion have all had an impact on political thought and philosophy since the late eighteenth century, and this volume includes writings from philosophers that show how that has been so.Reading and studying even those you disagree with can help clarify to you what you actually do believe and why. "The Great Political Theories" offers a compendium of political ideas and thoughts since the late 1700s and would be rewarding reading for anyone with a serious interest in political theory and philosophy.

3.0 out of 5 stars class book

A.T. · November 2, 2014

I had to buy this book for a poli sci class. It wasn't like it was a great read or anything. I actually found it hard to follow sometimes, but that might have been because it would put me to sleep.

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommend!

R. · April 17, 2016

Great highlight-able book that covers the best in political philosophy. Very comprehensive and thought provoking- a great read! Would recommend reading the first volume or being familiar with earlier philosophies because there is some hearkening back (veryy minimal, doesn't disrupt the read if you only read this volume). Overall, I absolutely loved it! Covered everyone I was additionally curious about and summarizes perfectly.

5.0 out of 5 stars Underrated treasure trove of ideas

Z.N. · November 18, 2012

I casually stumbled upon the second volume in a bookstore, in 2003. I had five minutes to kill while waiting for my step brother to run an errand, and was forever changed: the essays were gripping; their variety and scope overwhelming; and the concise, informed synopses for each selection were infectiouslly engaging and intensely philosophical. I'm not even a political science major; my areas of interest are psychology and English literature; but I was provoked by this volume into exploring many of its individual authors more fully, and to always keep political theory in mind, even if I cannot bring it into my work. The first volume is excellent, also, and I would have started there first, if it weren't for getting so captivated by the second.

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Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Great Political Theories

Harper Perennial Modern Classics

Chapter One

Section One

Rousseau, Condorcet, and Kant

Review:

Great Political Theories V.2: A Comprehensive Selection of the Crucial Ideas in Political Philosophy from the French Revolution to Modern Times (Harper Perennial Modern Thought)

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Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Great Political Theories

Harper Perennial Modern Classics

Chapter One

Section One

Rousseau, Condorcet, and Kant

Review:

Great Political Theories V.2: A Comprehensive Selection of the Crucial Ideas in Political Philosophy from the French Revolution to Modern Times (Harper Perennial Modern Thought)

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