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An introduction to political philosophy

The revised edition of this highly successful text provides a clear and accessible introduction to some of the most important questions of political philosophy. Organized around major issues, Wolff provides the structure that beginners need, while also introducing some distinctive ideas of his own.

An introduction to political philosophy

This book looks at the central problems involved in political philosophy and the various past attempts to solve these problems. What would life be like without the state, for example? What justifies the state? Who should rule? How much liberty should the citizen enjoy? How should property justly be distributed? Jonathan Wolff looks at these stimulating questions in the light of works like Plato's "Republic", Hobbes' "Leviathan", Locke's "Two Treatises of Government", Rousseau's "Social Contract", Mill's "On Liberty", Marx's "Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts", and Rauls' "Theory of Justice", and considers the debates which have developed between various philosophers. In this final chapter, he also considers more recent issues, particularly that of feminist political theory.

Why read Marx today?

'All too often, Karl Marx has been regarded as a demon or a deity - or a busted flush. This fresh, provocative, and hugely enjoyable book explains why, for all his shortcomings, his critique of modern society remains forcefully relevant even in the twenty-first century.' Francis Wheen, author of Karl Marx In recent years we could be forgiven for assuming that Marx has nothing left to say to us. Marxist regimes have failed miserably, and with them, it seemed, all reason to take Marx seriously. The fall of the Berlin Wall had enormous symbolic resonance: it was taken to be the fall of Marx as well as of Marxist politics and economics. This timely book argues that we can detach Marx the critic of current society from Marx the prophet of future society, and that he remains the most impressive critic we have of liberal, capitalist, bourgeois society. It also shows that the value of the 'great thinkers' does not depend on their views being true, but on other features such as their originality, insight, and systematic vision. On this account too Marx still richly deserves to be read.

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