Books in the Recovering Political Philosophy series

This book provides an introductory survey of Montesquieu's economic ideas and a fresh examination of the longstanding controversy over the meaning and purpose of Montesquieu's The Spirit of the Laws.

Self and City in the Thought of Saint Augustine explores the analogy between the self and political society in the thought of St. Augustine of Hippo. It argues that Augustine develops three analogies between self and city, as a society ordered by love: self-love in the case of the Earthly City;

This book recovers Aristotle's understanding of the roles of rhetoric and prudence in public leadership, comparing it to the other major political theories of leadership: utilitarianism, as advocated by J.S. Mill, and duty-ethics, as advocated by Immanuel Kant.

Taking Nietzsche's commentary on the four essays in his autobiographical work Ecce Homo as its interpretive guide, this book also shows that the Untimely Meditations contain early expositions of concepts like the last man, the overman, the new philosopher, the creation of values, and the malleability of nature-all staples of his later philosophy.

This book explores Cicero's moral and political philosophy with great attention to his life and thought as a whole. Cicero's recovery of Socratic political philosophy in Roman garb is then the basis for recovery of Cicero as a notable political thinker relevant to our time and its problems.

Scott Yenor argues that David Hume's reputation as a skeptic is greatly exaggerated and that Hume's skepticism is a moment leading Hume to defend common life philosophy and the humane commercial republic. Gentle, humane virtues reflect the proper reaction to the complex mixture of human faculties that define the human condition.

The book examines the intersection of two philosophical developments which define define contemporary life in the liberal democratic west, considering how democracy has become the only legitimate and publicly defensible regime, while also considering how modern democracy attempts to solve what Leo Strauss called the "theologico-political problem."

The book argues that a universally widespread virility currently prevents humans from realizing their sexualities, which are originally the feminine and the masculine. This obstacle may be traced back to Renaissance humanism, whose core intention is to take control over the so-called 'nature."

An interpretation of Xenophon's Anabasis of Cyrus, paralleling the text to Machiavelli's The Prince, and focusing on the question: How did the Socratic education help Xenophon reconcile morality with effectiveness, the noble with the good, as a ruler?

"John Colman has presented us with a profound and scrupulously detailed inquiry into how Lucretius understood the tensions between the philosophic life and the requirements and characteristics of the life of political action-tensions with which Lucretius had to deal in his endeavor to bring philosophy into Rome."

Shakespeare's Political Wisdom offers interpretations of five Shakespearean plays with a view to the enduring guidance those plays can provide to human, political life. The plays have been chosen for their relentless attention to the questions that were once and may sometime become, or be recognized as being, the heart and soul of politics.

Eros and Socratic Political Philosophy offers a new account of Plato's view of eros, or romantic love, by focusing on a question which has vexed many scholars: why does Plato's Socrates praise eros highly on some occasions but also criticize it harshly on others?

The work contains a critical comparison of two competing American penitentiary disciplines known as the Auburn and Philadelphia systems, an evaluation of whether American penitentiaries can successfully work in France, a detailed description of Houses of Refuge as the first juvenile detention centers, and an argument against penal colonization.

This book presents an interpretive analysis of the major themes and purpose of Alexis de Tocqueville's and Gustave de Beaumont's first work, On the Penitentiary System, thereby offering new insights into Tocqueville as a moderate liberal statesman.

This book presents the first full translation of the correspondence of Leo Strauss and Gerhard Kruger, showing for each the development of key and influential ideas, along with seven interpretative essays by leading Strauss scholars.

This edited collection brings to light the rare virtues and uncommon merits of Raymond Aron, the main figure of French twentieth-century liberalism. The Companion to Raymond Aron is an essential supplement to Aron's autobiography Memoires (1984) and main works, exploring the substance of his political, sociological, and philosophical thought.

Political societies frequently regard philosophers as potential threats to morality and religion, and those who speak for politics often demand a defense of philosophy. This book will address philosophy as a mode of existence put into question.

This edited collection brings to light the rare virtues and uncommon merits of Raymond Aron, the main figure of French twentieth-century liberalism. The Companion to Raymond Aron is an essential supplement to Aron's autobiography Memoires (1984) and main works, exploring the substance of his political, sociological, and philosophical thought.

The first comprehensive effort to examine Strauss's astonishingly wide-ranging writings of the 1930s (some of which have only recently been made available to English-speaking readers, including several herein) with a view to their unifying theme of recovering classical political philosophy.

The first comprehensive effort to examine Strauss's astonishingly wide-ranging writings of the 1930s (some of which have only recently been made available to English-speaking readers, including several herein) with a view to their unifying theme of recovering classical political philosophy.

Political societies frequently regard philosophers as potential threats to morality and religion, and those who speak for politics often demand a defense of philosophy. This book will address philosophy as a mode of existence put into question.