Bücher der Reihe Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought

The First New Science gives a clear account of Vico's mature philosophy: the belief that certain functions which are necessary for the maintenance of human society and culture, including philosophy, also condition them historically. This challenges the traditional view that philosophy can lay claim to an historically independent viewpoint, thus bringing into question the legitimacy of the claims of universal prescriptive political theories as against the de facto political beliefs of particular historical societies. This is the first of Vico's later major books in which he wrote in Italian in order not merely to expound but to demonstrate in practice, his conception of the philosophical importance of etymology. This 2002 Cambridge Texts edition is the first complete English translation of the 1725 text. Accompanied by a glossary, bibliography, chronology of Vico's life and expository introduction, it makes this important work accessible to students for the first time.

Max Stirner's The Ego and Its Own is striking and distinctive in both style and content. First published in 1844, Stirner's distinctive and powerful polemic sounded the death-knell of left Hegelianism, with its attack on Ludwig Feuerbach, Bruno and Edgar Bauer, Moses Hess and others. It also constitutes an enduring critique of both liberalism and socialism from the perspective of an extreme eccentric individualism. Karl Marx was only one of many contemporaries provoked into a lengthy rebuttal of Stirner's argument. Stirner has been portrayed, variously, as a precursor of Nietzsche (both stylistically and substantively), a forerunner of existentialism and as an individualist anarchist. This edition of his work comprises a revised version of Steven Byington's much praised translation, together with an introduction and notes on the historical background to Stirner's text.

Adam Ferguson's Essay on the History of Civil Society (first published in 1767) is a classic of the Scottish - and European - Enlightenment. Drawing on such diverse sources as classical authors and contemporary travel literature, Ferguson offers a complex model of historical advance which challenges both Hume's and Smith's embrace of modernity and the primitivism of Rousseau. Ferguson combines a subtle analysis of the emergence of modern commercial society with a critique of its abandonment of civic and communal virtues. Central to Ferguson's theory of citizenship are the themes of conflict, play, political participation and military valour. The Essay is a bold and novel attempt to reclaim the tradition of active, virtuous citizenship and apply it to the modern state.

This translation and introduction to the "The Statesman", Plato's neglected political work, is crucial to understanding the development of his political thinking. In some respects, it continues themes from the "Republic", particularly the importance of knowledge as an entitlement to rule.

This is the first English translation of the most important work of political thought of the fifteenth century, and the most learned and original work associated with the conciliar movement in the late medieval church. The Catholic Concordance will be of interest to a wide range of scholars and students of the history of European ideas.

This edition of early Greek writings on social and political issues includes works by more than thirty authors. There is a particular emphasis on the sophists, with the inclusion of all of their significant surviving texts, and the works of Alcidamas, Antisthenes and the 'Old Oligarch' are also represented.

First published in 2000, this translation of one of the great works of Western political thought is based on the assumption that when Plato chose the dialogue form for his writing, he intended these dialogues to sound like conversations - although conversations of a philosophical sort. In addition to a vivid, dignified and accurate rendition of Plato's text, the student and general reader will find many aids to comprehension in this volume: an introduction that assesses the cultural background to the Republic, its place within political philosophy, and its general argument; succinct notes in the body of the text; an analytical summary of the work's content; a full glossary of proper names; a chronology of important events; and a guide to further reading. The result is an accomplished and accessible edition of this seminal work, suitable for philosophers and classicists as well as historians of political thought at all levels.

This major contribution to the series of Cambridge Texts includes the first ever modern edition of the Divers Orations of Margaret Cavendish, together with a new rendition of her classic imaginary voyage, A New World called the Blazing World. Susan James provides all of the usual student-friendly editorial features.

This book is the first complete modern edition of the political works of Andrew Fletcher, who in his day was the most acute commentator on Anglo-Scottish relations and the political future of Europe. An introduction by the editor and a fully annotated text will enable readers to appreciate the extent of Fletcher's analysis.

This selection of Marx's early political writings presents new translations and a sequence of texts that illuminates the development of his thought. It will be an invaluable guide to the formation of one of the most influential doctrines in the history of political thought.

Bodin's Six livres de la republique is a vast synthesis of comparative public law and politics, the theoretical core of which is formed by the four chapters translated in this volume. These contain his celebrated theory of sovereignty, which informed his thinking on the state and made his Republique a landmark in the development of European political thought. This theory, however, also included a seductive but erroneous thesis that was of great importance for the development of royalist ideology: the idea that sovereignty is indivisible, that the entire power of the state has to be vested in a single individual or group. This thesis, together with the crisis of authority in the French religious wars, led Bodin to a systematically absolutist interpretation of the French and other contemporary monarchies. His primary aim was to exclude any legal ground of forcible resistance. A king of France, he hoped, would continue to adhere to moral and prudential limitations, but a proper king, he insisted, could not be lawfully constrained. This is the first complete translation of these chapters into English since 1606. It is accompanied by a lucid introduction, a chronology, and a bibliography.

Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft (Community and Civil Society) is a classic of social and political theory, exploring the tension between close-knit 'communities' and an emerging global market 'society'. This new translation and introduction make this seminal work accessible to students of social and political theory and the history of European ideas.

Sally Jenkinson's masterful selection from Bayle's Dictionnaire Historique et Critique presents the reader with a coherent path through Bayle's vast work. Her authoritative translation, careful text selection, and lucid introduction will be welcomed by scholars and students of the history of ideas, political theory, cultural history and French studies.

Francisco Vitoria was the earliest and arguably the most important of the Thomist political philosophers of the Counter-Reformation. Not only did he write important essays on civil and ecclesiastical power, but he became celebrated for his defence of the new world Indians against the imperialism of his own master, the King of Spain. Vitoria's political works are thus of great importance for an understanding both of the rise of modern absolutism, and the debate about the emergent imperialism of the European powers. His works are also unusually accessible, since they survive mainly in the form of 'relectiones', or summaries delivered at the end of his lecture courses on law and theology at the University of Salamanca. Translated here into English for the first time, these texts comprise the core of Vitoria's thought, and will be of interest to specialists in political theory and the history of ideas, ecclesiastical history, and the history of early modern Spain. A comprehensive introduction, a chronology, and a bibliography accompany the texts.

The writings of Mary Astell (1666-1731) are a remarkable contribution to the constitutional debates of the time. Astell's political pamphlets have never been reprinted in their entirety. This new edition makes accessible three major works by an important political theorist.

De Cive (On the Citizen) is the first full exposition of the political thought of Thomas Hobbes, the greatest English political philosopher of all time. Professors Tuck and Silverthorne have undertaken the first complete translation since 1651, a rendition long thought (in error) to be at least sanctioned by Hobbes himself. On the Citizen is written in a clear, straightforward, expository style, and in many ways offers students a more digestible account of Hobbes's political thought than the Leviathan itself. This new translation is both accurate and accessible, and is itself a significant scholarly event: it is accompanied by a full glossary of Latin terms, a chronology, bibliography, and an expository introduction. Throughout the editors have emphasised consistency in the translation and usage of Hobbes's basic conceptual vocabulary, respecting Hobbes's own concern for accurate definition of terms.

This book is a translation of a classic work of modern social and political thought, Elements of the Philosophy of Right. Hegel's last major published work, is an attempt to systematize ethical theory, natural right, the philosophy of law, political theory and the sociology of the modern state into the framework of Hegel's philosophy of history. Hegel's work has been interpreted in radically different ways, influencing many political movements from far right to far left, and is widely perceived as central to the communication tradition in modern ethical, social and political thought. This edition includes extensive editorial material informing the reader of the historical background of Hegel's text, and explaining his allusions to Roman law and other sources, making use of lecture materials which have only recently become available. The new translation is literal, readable and consistent, and will be informative and scholarly enough to serve the needs of students and specialists alike.

Richard Bartlett Gregg's The Power of Nonviolence (1959) is an influential defence of nonviolence as a viable alternative to armed struggle. This definitive new edition includes an introduction by leading political theorist, James Tully that situates the work in its historical contexts and shows how it is still relevant today.

The texts in this scholarly edition present Abraham Lincoln as a political thinker in historical context. Opening with a concise introduction, the texts that follow are complete and carefully edited, with extensive annotation and footnotes to provide a clearer insight into Lincoln the man, the politician and political thinker.

Collection of thirteen Leveller writings for students of the English civil wars and the history of political thought.

This is a 1994 translation of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's What is Property? (1840), one of the classics of political thought and a notorious and influential critique of the central institution of modern Western society, the private ownership of property.

A wide-ranging 1994 collection of Gramsci's pre-prison writings which reveals the genesis of much of his later innovatory work.

On Liberty has become celebrated as the most powerful defence of the freedom of the individual, and is now widely regarded as the most important theoretical foundation for Liberalism as a political creed. The Subjection of Women is a powerful indictment of the political, social, and economic position of women. This edition, first published in 1989, brings together these two classic texts, plus Mill's posthumous Chapters on Socialism, his somewhat neglected examination of the strengths and weaknesses of various forms of socialism. The editor's substantial introduction places these three works in the context both of Mill's life and of nineteenth-century intellectual and political history. There is also a chronology of Mill's life, a bibliographical guide, and a biographical appendix of names cited in the texts.

Incorporating extensive updates to the editorial apparatus, including the introduction, suggestions for further reading, and footnotes, this third edition of More's Utopia has been comprehensively re-worked to take into account scholarship published since the second edition in 2002.

This new edition of the acclaimed translation of Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince - revised for the first time after thirty years - includes an extended and rewritten introduction by Quentin Skinner, an improved timeline of key events in Machiavelli's life, and a fully updated bibliography.

Thomas Jefferson is among the most important and controversial of American political thinkers: his influence (libertarian, democratic, participatory, and agrarian-republican) is still felt today. A prolific writer, Jefferson left 18,000 letters, Notes on the State of Virginia, an Autobiography, and numerous other papers. Joyce Appleby and Terence Ball have selected the most important of these for presentation in the Cambridge Texts series: Jefferson's views on topics such as revolution, self-government, the role of women and African-American and Native Americans emerge to give a fascinating insight into a man who owned slaves, yet advocated the abolition of slavery. The texts are supported by a concise introduction, suggestions for further reading and short biographies of key figures, all providing invaluable assistance to the student encountering the breadth and richness of Jefferson's thought for the first time.

This major addition to the series of Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought seeks to give students with no specialist knowledge access to both the practical and the metaphysical aspects of Hegel's political thought. The ethical and metaphysical texts in this collection both illuminate and contrast with those political and historical texts in which Hegel draws important conclusions about the modern world from remarkable comparative analyses of recent developments in England, France and Germany. The translator of these texts, H. B. Nisbet, was responsible for the acclaimed rendition of Hegel's Philosophy of Right already published in this series, and Lawrence Dickey's lucid editorial commentary introduces this distinctive corpus of political writing by one of the very greatest thinkers in the European tradition. A full chronology, explanatory annotation, glossary and bibliography are appended to aid the student reader.

Presents Spencer's classic attempt to expose the flaws in socialism and to assert political individualism as the best way to guarantee social progress.

News from Nowhere (1890), William Morris's most famous work and a classic of British socialism, is a utopian picture of a future communist society and a distillation of many of Morris's leading ideas on society, politics and art. This new edition includes a detailed introduction and interpretative notes.

Demonstrates the relevance and importance of the politico-religious project Hooker undertook, showing that The Laws offer more than an apologia for the Elizabethan religious settlement.