Political Philosophy & Theory

Political theory is an interdisciplinary endeavor whose center of gravity lies at the humanities end of the happily still undisciplined discipline of political science. Its traditions, approaches, and styles vary, but the field is united by a commitment to theorize, critique, and diagnose the norms, practices, and organization of political action in the past and present, in our own places and elsewhere. Political philosophy is the philosophical thought about the state, the nature of the state, its functions, values, the truth of the state experience, the philosophical inquiry into the validity of the state experience as the ultimate fulfillment of life, and the world. The importance of political philosophy in our multidimensional lives is immense. Across what sometimes seem chasms of difference, political theorists share a concern with the demands of justice and how to fulfill them, the presuppositions and promise of democracy, the divide between secular and religious ways of life, and the nature and identity of public goods, among many other topics.

This book is both an introduction and an original contribution to political philosophy. It is not, however, a simple survey of political theories, but also gives the reader an example of philosophical thinking about political ideas. The book also makes an attempt to define the essential issues of philosophical significance in contemporary politics.

Political theorists also share a commitment to the humanistic study of politics (although with considerable disagreement over what that means), and a skepticism towards the hegemony sometimes sought by our more self-consciously "scientific" colleagues. In recent years, and especially in the USA, the study of politics has become increasingly formal and quantitative.

Political philosophy has been practiced for as long as human beings have regarded their collective arrangements not as immutable and part of the natural order but as potentially open to change, and therefore as standing in need of philosophical justification. Political philosophy is a very important subdivision of philosophy that studies the concepts related to politics such as justice, freedom, equality, rights, duties, etc. It critically analyzes the political principles and policies in order to examine its relevance and drawbacks for people.