Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction

by David Miller and David Miller

Book Overview

This Very Short Introduction introduces readers to the key concepts of political philosophy: authority, democracy, freedom and its limits, justice, feminism, multiculturalism, and nationality. Accessibly written and assuming no previous knowledge of the subject, it encourages the reader to think clearly and critically about the leading political questions of our time.

Miller first investigates how political philosophy tackles basic ethical...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0192803956
• ISBN13: 9780192803955
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 147 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 4.3" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

A good summary of western political philosophy

I have to disagree with the other reviewer. Overall this is a pretty objective overview of mainstream political philosophy covering Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, social contract theory, justice, liberty, freedom, feminism, Marx and so on. Miller's method of asking childish, almost infantile, questions about the possibility of modern democracy, global justice, and freedom opens up some very interesting avenues of inquiry (childish questions are the mark of a true philosopher). Additionally Miller's emphasis on modern-day human rights, multiculturalism and social justice work to give this introduction a needed humanist perspective against the often canonistic regurgitation of detached text-book philosophy which one often finds in broad introductory texts of this kind. I recommend this introduction for those just starting philosophy or politics and want an interesting overview of Western political philosophy. If you truly want to see a politically bias Short Introduction (as a point of comparison) try reading Kenneth Minoque's Politics: A Very Short Introduction. He pretty much adheres to a dogmatically neoliberal position throughout the books 112 pages. "But do nations really exist? Or are they not just imagined but entirely imaginary? Is there anything that genuinely differentiates the people who live on one side of the national boundary from their counterparts on the other side? Dean Inge once said that 'a nation is a society united by a delusion about its ancestry and by a common hatred of its neighbours'. Like most good quotations, this one contains more than a grain of truth." - Miller on Nation states p.114