Comments on: Political philosophy

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 19:07:59 +0000

Don’t worry, Mike. I’m not inclined to trust libertarians (I am still a liberal) anymore than anyone else.

By: big mike

big mike — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 17:56:20 +0000

Good advice in the previous comments.

My advice: don’t read _just_ libertarian literature (”Capitalism and Freedom”, etc). Otherwise, you could end up with a “straw-man” view of folks with different political views.

For example, read a sympathetic intro to Marx (economics and history), so that you can understand where some folks (e.g., Europeans) are coming from.

As a Montanan, you might want to read up on Montana’s industrial history, such as mining and the conflicts between labor and management.

By: sheena rice

sheena rice — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 23:24:49 +0000

Budge gave some good suggestions, and a primer is a good idea. But after the primers definetly start with Locke and Hobbes. Incredible (and fast) reading. They were both lightyears ahead of their time.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 05:02:27 +0000

Cool, thanks.

By: Dave Budge

Dave Budge — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 04:52:59 +0000

One more thought is Libertarianism : A Primer by David Boaz.

By: Dave Budge

Dave Budge — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 04:33:51 +0000

Well, at least your balanced in your selections. I’m wondering if you’ve read most of the the Enlightenment Era philosophers as a foundation such as Hobbes, Locke, Rossuea, Voltaire, Hume, Berkeley, etc. A good primer is The Enlightenment: The Science of Freedom by Peter Gay.

I think it is helpful to understand that era if nothing but for the genesis of the modern lexicon of political philosophy. But perhaps you’ve studied these before.

And giving a plug to my ilk, I think foundational reading in political/economics is F.A. Hayek’s The Road To Surfdom. I see that book as important as Das Kapital and The Wealth of Nations since political philosophy has so much to do with the distribution of wealth and resources.