Books in the Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought series

This collection of essays brings together the writings of the British idealists who made significant contributions to the social and political thought of the nineteenth century. Also included in this volume are British idealist biographies documenting major events in their lives as well as their principal writings.

The historical significance of Auguste Comte's early writings is explored in Stuart Jones's substantial introduction, which explains the origins and development of Comte's ideas. Other scholarly apparatus include a chronology, biographical details of key figures, and a bibliographical note, making this edition fully accessible to students of nineteenth-century political thought.

The texts in this 1997 collection represent major contributions to the debate over the respective authority of popes and councils in the Catholic Church, which resumed almost on the eve of the sixteenth-century Reformation. These complex arguments are fundamental for any society under government and they continue to retain their force today.

This edition of Beccaria's On Crimes and Punishments and other writings presents an interpretation of his thought. Drawing on Italian scholarship, Richard Bellamy shows how Beccaria wove together the various political languages of the Enlightenment into a novel synthesis, and argues that his political philosophy, often regarded as no more than a precursor of Bentham's, combines republican, contractarian, romantic and liberal as well as utilitarian themes. The result is a complex theory of punishment that derives from a sophisticated analysis of the role of the state and the nature of human motivation in commercial society. The translation used in this edition is based on the fifth Italian edition, and provides English-speaking readers with Beccaria's own order of his text for the first time. A number of pieces from his writings on political economy and the history of civilisation which were not previously available in English are also included.

Published between 1570 and 1590 these texts exemplify the development of the political ideas which motivated and legitimated resistance to the government of Philip II. They address notions of liberty, constitutionalism, representation and popular sovereignty, all of central importance to the events of the Dutch Revolt.

This collection brings together thirty-five letters and sermons of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, that deal with political matters. These texts complement Augustine's classic City of God, and treat many essential themes, including the responsibilities of citizenship, the relationship between the church and secular authority, religious coercion, and war and peace.

Viscount Bolingbroke was one of the most creative political thinkers in eighteenth-century Britain. This volume includes some of his most important work, A Dissertation upon Parties, the letter, 'On the Spirit of Patriotism', and The Idea of the Patriot King, which influenced radicals in Britain as well as revolutionaries in both America and France.

The texts in this 1997 collection represent major contributions to the debate over the respective authority of popes and councils in the Catholic Church, which resumed almost on the eve of the sixteenth-century Reformation. These complex arguments are fundamental for any society under government and they continue to retain their force today.

Published between 1570 and 1590 these texts exemplify the development of the political ideas which motivated and legitimated resistance to the government of Philip II. They address notions of liberty, constitutionalism, representation and popular sovereignty, all of central importance to the events of the Dutch Revolt.

Cicero's On the Commonwealth and On the Laws were his first and most substantial attempt to adapt Greek theories of political life to the circumstances of the Roman Republic. They represent Cicero's vision of an ideal society, and remain his most important works of political philosophy. On the Commonwealth survives only in part, and On the Laws was never completed. The present volume offers a scholarly reconstruction of the fragments of On the Commonwealth and a masterly translation of both dialogues, prepared by James E. G. Zetzel, Professor of Classics at Columbia University. The texts are supported by a concise introduction, notes, synopsis, biographical notes and bibliography, all designed to assist students in politics, philosophy, ancient history, law and classics.

Presented here are three early Platonic dialogues in a new translation by Tom Griffith combining elegance, accuracy, freshness and fluency. Offering varied examples of Plato's encounters with the culture and politics of Athens, the dialogues are introduced and annotated by Malcolm Schofield, a well-known authority on ancient Greek political philosophy.

Ralph Waldo Emerson is the central figure in American political thought. This selection of his major writings for the series of Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought highlights not only Emerson's practical political involvement in issues like abolitionism, but also examines the philosophical basis of his political thinking.

Ralph Waldo Emerson is the central figure in American political thought. This selection of his major writings for the series of Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought highlights not only Emerson's practical political involvement in issues like abolitionism, but also examines the philosophical basis of his political thinking.

The Short Discourse is a passionate but compelling statement of Ockham's position on the most fundamental political problem of the medieval period.

This is the first modern edition of A Holy Commonwealth, which was written in 1659 by the Puritan minister Richard Baxter (1615-91). It is a candid confession as to why a conservative Puritan fought for Parliament in the Civil War and gave his support to the Cromwells.

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

This translation of an undisputed classic aims to be both accurate and readable. Readers will appreciate The Ancien Regime and the French Revolution for its sense of irony as well as tragedy, for its deep insights into political psychology and for its impassioned defense of liberty.

Revolutionary, mathematician, economist, philosopher and politician, Condorcet (1743-1794) wrote a compelling view of human progress across world history and a remarkably prophetic view of the future. Set in context by the editors' introduction, this revised translation of 'The Sketch' and lesser-known writings shows why Condorcet is of growing interest 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.

Plato's Laws is one of the most important surviving works of ancient Greek political thought. This new translation into accessible English also includes an authoritative introduction and notes on the text. It will be a key resource for scholars and graduate and undergraduate students of the history of political thought.

Giovanni Botero is a significant but often overlooked figure in early modern political thought. This translation of his 1589 volume, Della ragion di Stato, which first popularised the term 'reason of state', introduces Botero to a wider Anglophone audience and demonstrates his opposition to Machiavelli's seminal work, The Prince.

The first major work on political economy in early modern Japanese history, Kumazawa Banzan's (1619-1691) Responding to the Great Learning, translated unabridged, features incisive commentary on this pivotal work and its controversial author within the context of broader historical and intellectual developments in East Asian Confucian thought.

Wu Jing's eighth-century collection of dialogues between Emperor Taizong and his officials is a seminal work in Chinese literature addressing core themes of East Asian thinking about the politics of power. This accessible translation will be indispensable for students of East Asian and international political thought.

The Conquest of Bread is Peter Kropotkin's most detailed description of the ideal society, embodying anarchist communism, and of the social revolution that was to achieve it. Marshall Shatz's introduction traces the evolution of Kropotkin's thought, and the volume also includes a number of his shorter writings.

The Spirit of the Laws is, without question, one of the central texts in the history of eighteenth-century thought, yet there has been no complete, scholarly English-language edition since that of Thomas Nugent, published in 1750. This lucid translation renders Montesquieu's problematic text newly accessible to a fresh generation of students, helping them to understand quite why Montesquieu was such an important figure in the early enlightenment and why The Spirit of the Laws was, for example, such an influence upon those who framed the American constitution. Fully annotated, this edition focuses attention upon Montesquieu's use of sources and his text as a whole, rather than upon those opening passages towards which critical energies have traditionally been devoted, and a select bibliography and chronology are provided for those coming to Montesquieu's work for the first time.

Leibniz's political and ethical writing long has been neglected, and with this new edition Professor Riley makes available the most representative pieces from Leibniz's political theory. This new edition, specially prepared for this series, is the first to make a considerable number of Leibniz's writings available in English, and includes three previously unpublished manuscripts, a selection of political letters, an introduction, notes, and a critical biography.

Max Weber (1864-1920) is generally known as a founder of modern social science. The texts in this edition span his career and illustrate the development of his political thinking on the fate of Germany and the nature of politics in the modern western state and an age of cultural 'disenchantment'.

This volume offers clear and forceful contemporary translations of the most important of Seneca's 'Moral Essays': On Anger, On Mercy, On the Private Life and the first four books of On Favours. They give an attractive, full picture of the social and moral outlook of an ancient Stoic thinker intimately involved in the governance of the Roman empire in the mid first century of the Christian era. A general introduction describes Seneca's life and career and explains the fundamental ideas underlying the Stoic moral, social and political philosophy that informs the essays. Individual introductions, footnotes and biographical notes place the essays in their historical and philosophical contexts, and further assistance to students is provided by section headings in the translations which organize the principal transitions in the argument and the more unfamiliar aspects of Seneca's writing.

Statism and Anarchy is a complete English translation of the last work by the great Russian anarchist Michael Bakunin, written in 1873. Then he assails the Marxist alternative, predicting that a 'dictatorship of the proletariat' will in fact be a dictatorship over the proletariat, and will produce a new class of socialist rulers. Instead, he outlines his vision of an anarchist society and identifies the social forces he believes will achieve an anarchist revolution. Statism and Anarchy had an immediate influence on the 'to the people' movement of Russian populism, and Bakunin's ideas inspired significant anarchist movements in Spain, Italy, Russia and elsewhere. In a lucid introduction Marshall Shatz locates Bakunin in his immediate historical and intellectual context, and assesses the impact of his ideas on the wider development of European radical thought. A guide to further reading and chronology of events are also appended as aids to students encountering Bakunin's thought for the first time.