Political philosophy
Published by Jeff, April 27th, 2006 in PersonalMy discussion with Budge has spurred an interest in the subject. I’ve been meaning to read some stuff on it anyway. At the moment I’m planning on reading:
- A Theory of Justice
- Anarchy, State, and Utopia
Any other recommendations are welcome. I think I should grab some sort of introductory work, too.
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.
One more thought is Libertarianism : A Primer by David Boaz.
Cool, thanks.
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.
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.
Don’t worry, Mike. I’m not inclined to trust libertarians (I am still a liberal) anymore than anyone else.