The History of Political Theory: Ancient Greece to Modern America (American University Studies) - Softcover

Sheldon, Garrett W.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0820408484 ISBN 13: 9780820408484

Publisher: Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers, 1991

Synopsis

A concise presentation of the major political theories underlying the Western tradition and contemporary ideological debates in America and the world. From the Ancients, Plato and Aristotle, to contemporary Americans Rawls, Nozick and Barber, this book examines each thinker's conception of Human Nature, Political Society and Social Ethics. Extensive excerpts from the original writings and their relation to American political principles distinguish this valuable text.

About this title

About the Author

The Author: Garrett Ward Sheldon received his Ph.D. in Political Theory from Rutgers University. He also studied at Princeton Seminary and the Graduate Faculty of The New School for Social Research in New York. He currently teaches Political Science at Clinch Valley College of the University of Virginia.

Review

«Sheldon's 'The History of Political Theory' is a masterful text, always intelligent and always readable. Sheldon's book will do more than inform students about the major ideas and arguments in political theory...It will also engage them, and lead them to think more deeply about themselves and political life.» (W. Carey McWilliams, Rutgers University)
«...an ideal introduction to political theory. ... The Introduction presents in an unusually clear and thoughtful manner a fine overview of the questions asked by political theorists. The chapters concerned with individual thinkers combine a close, careful reading of the texts with stimulating analysis. ... Sheldon writes in an exceptionally lucid and lively manner, making the book a pleasure to read.» (Charles Hersch, San Jose State University)
«...a comprehensive and invormative synopsis of the history of political philosophy that is a welcome and useful addition to the teaching and understanding of this subject. ... The originality and strength of the text rests upon three features. First, in his conceptual organization of western thinkers the author has made it possible to compare respective political thinkers in term of similar ideas or organizing themes. ... The second important feature of the book is that it combines narrative text with original, copious, and relevant text by the respective political thinker. ... Finally, the third striking feature of this book is that besides discussing the usual great books, the author has also included other important but often neglected western thinkers, e.g. Gentile and Markovic.» (David Schultz, International Studies in Philosophy)
«Sheldon's 'The History of Political Theory' is a masterful text, always intelligent and always readable. Sheldon's book will do more than inform students about the major ideas and arguments in political theory ...It will also engage them, and lead them to think more deeply about themselves and political life.» (W. Carey McWilliams, Rutgers University)
«Professor Sheldon has written an excellent history of Western political thought. He nicely brings together all the significant thinkers in the tradition of Plato and Marx along with a representative sample of contemporary thinkers. I especially like his conceptual approach to the study of political thought, and his ample use of quoted excerpts from the writers themselves makes for easy classroom use of text. This text is so good that it could easily supplant Sabine in college classrooms studying the history of Western political thought.» (Richard M. Battistoni, Baylor University)
«...An ideal introduction to political theory ...The introduction presents in an unusually clear and thoughtful manner a fine overview of the questions asked by political theorists. The chapters concerned with individual thinkers combine a close, careful reading of the texts with stimulating analysis ...Sheldon writes in an exceptionally lucid and lively manner, making the book a pleasure to read.» (Charles Hersch, San Jose State University)

Edition details

• Publisher: Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0820408484
• ISBN 13: 9780820408484
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 255