Minerva's owl : the tradition of western political thought / Jeffrey Abramson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Abramson, Jeffrey B.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political science--History.

Political science.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (399 p.)

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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. Jeffrey Abramson provides a lively and accessible guide for readers discovering the tradition of political thought that dates back to Socrates and Plato, with contemporary examples that illustrate the enduring nature of political dilemmas.

Contents:

Introduction: The canon of political thought

Plato's Republic: the debate over justice begins

The students revolt against Utopia

Out of the cave and into the light-and back again?

Beyond Plato's tragic republic

Aristotle's ethics: the habits of virtue

Aristotle's politics: severed hands and political animals

Augustine and the problem of evil

Machiavelli's dirty hands

Hobbes and the kingdom of means

Locke, liberalism, and the possessive life

Rousseau and the rustic

Rousseau and the political

Kant's crooked timber

John Stuart Mill and the demands of individuality

Hegel, Marx, and the owl of Minerva

The revival of political theory

Conclusion: The passion for politics.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 353-375) and index.

ISBN:

0-674-05347-8

OCLC:

651662972