Includes bibliographical references (p. 353-375) and index.
Introduction: The canon of political thought -- Plato's Republic: the debate over justice begins -- The students revolt against Utopia -- Out of the cave and into the light-and back again? -- Beyond Plato's tragic republic -- Aristotle's ethics: the habits of virtue -- Aristotle's politics: severed hands and political animals -- Augustine and the problem of evil -- Machiavelli's dirty hands -- Hobbes and the kingdom of means -- Locke, liberalism, and the possessive life -- Rousseau and the rustic -- Rousseau and the political -- Kant's crooked timber -- John Stuart Mill and the demands of individuality -- Hegel, Marx, and the owl of Minerva -- The revival of political theory -- Conclusion: The passion for politics.
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"Jeffrey Abramson argues politics with the classic writers and draws the reader into a spirited conversation, with contemporary examples that illustrate the enduring nature of political dilemmas. As the discussions deepen, the voices of Abramson's own teachers, and of the students he has taught, enter into the mix, and the book becomes a tribute not just to the great philosophers but also to the special bond between teacher and student."--Jacket.